Bart Simpson: Attorney at Law
by Quick-n-Popular
Summary: Seventeen years in the future Bart simpson, now a successful Attorney in East Springfield. He has everything, and is happy. That is going to be challenged when some women reenter his life.
1. What can I say? This is the life!

Hello Simpson maniacs! Well, this is my first Simpsons fanfic (Please don't be hateful…)

Just so You know, I was inspired to write this after watching the episode "Lisa's Wedding".

I hope you like it.

Bart Simpson: Attorney at Law

Chapter one: A Different Bart, and ghosts of the past.

In East Side of Springfield, in the law office of Kelly, Barnaby, and Greg, sitting at his desk looking out the big window that adjoined his room was a spiky haired man. Donning a five o'clock shadow, being fit, and wearing an expensive Armani suit; this man, who seventeen years ago was regarded as the most unlikely person to achieve as much as he had now.

Bart Simpson smiled at that thought. He remembered fondly of the time when he was in the fourth grade. A place that held tightly to his heart.

_How did all this happen?_ He thought to himself. But he knew. It was a huge turn point in his life. Although, it was almost unclear why he had decided to go in the first place. It was probably his sister's fault. Seventeen years ago, Springfield Elementary was having another career day and Bart was being dragged to the office by Principal Skinner for writing above the banner and making it say "alternative career day for ugly teachers". Not one of his finer quotes, but he did it in order to get Milhouse out from under Nelson's fist. Anyway, upon being dragged, a strange guy at the convention whispered into Skinner's ear and Skinner let go of Bart and went another way.

"What the hell happened?" Bart asked the guy, "What did you tell him?"

The strange guy, who was dressed rather better than the others (all of whom were dressed as if they were on vacation) said, "Oh, I just told your principal that I might be able to give you some ideas on how to be rich."

Bart remembered his eyes being wide, "Really, how?"

The guy smiled, "Well, it's easy. That is if you get good at it. But there's a catch also. It means hard work, studying, and an eagerness to help others."

Bart rolled his eyes, "Studying? Working Hard? And helping others? Why don't you waste my sister's time with this, I have better things to do."

Just then, his sister in question, ran up to the two of them.

"You're Frank Gelwood, aren't you! You're one of the most prestigious lawyers in Springfield!"

Frank smiled, "Who are you, little lady?"

Lisa beamed, "I'm Lisa Simpson, I've read all about you! Bart? Where are you going?" Lisa ran after him and grabbed him by the shoulder.

"Lis', let go of me!"

"But, Bart, this man could change your future!"

Bart removed his sister's grasp and stared at her defiantly. "What makes you think he could?"

Bart covered his ears as his sister ran off on how many ways.

"Lisa, shut up!"

Lisa smiled at her angry brother, "Bart, I'll make you a deal, you spend the rest of school talking with this guy and I wont tell Homer that you were the one who taped over his beloved "I Love Lucy" videos."

Bart mumbled in defeated anguish.

That was the turn point. Lisa's deal with Bart made him go back to Frank and hear what he had to say about being a lawyer, and Bart was hooked. He did better in his classes but still kept his reputation by asking Skinner and Miss Krabapple to keep his good grades in secret. The only person who knew was Lisa. At nineteen, Bart graduated from High School, much to the surprise to a lot of the faculty (even though he was doing good, didn't mean he was going to refrain from getting detention). He entered Law School and passed the bar at twenty-five. A year later Kelly, Barnaby, and Greg made him a colleague. Bart still looked at the mirror and shook his head, in amazement, at what he had become.

His cell phone interrupted his thoughts.

"Bart Simpson." He answered, professionally (another different thing of his).

"No, I'm sorry I can't." He said to the other person, "I'm having dinner with my family tonight, maybe some other time? Ok, great. Thank you, bye."

Bart shut his phone down and still gazed at his reflection and simply smiled again.

Leaving his office around seven, Bart got a cab and went back home. 742 Evergreen Terrace. Getting out of the cab, paying the driver, and looking up at his home he felt good.

"Bart! You're home! Welcome!" Marge, who had seen him arrive through the living room window, ran up and hugged her eldest son.

"Hi, mom." Bart said.

Marge stood back and gazed fondly at her son. "My goodness have you grown! How have you been, my special little guy?"

Bart smiled, "Mom, you say that every time I see you."

Marge wiped a tear away from her eye, "I'm just so happy to see you, Bart."

Bart couldn't blame her for feeling this way. From being the kid she had to see on video shoplifting to being a well-successful lawyer in Springfield, she definitely had the right to be happy.

"Is everyone here?" Bart asked.

Marge composed herself back to her ways, "Lisa's flight is coming late, your father went to the airport to pick her up, Maggie's here. She's out on the back porch, uh, doing her thing…"

Bart grinned. His youngest sister who almost had the same reputation he did dropped out of high school and enrolled in a dance academy. Upon doing so, Marge kicked her out of the house and she went to live with her aunt Selma, upon which she became a heavy chain smoker. While Marge never commented on her sisters smoking, she was very uneasy about her daughter adopting the habit.

"I'll go and see what she's up to." Bart said. Leaving his mother, Bart went through the house and to the back porch and saw his younger sibling.

Maggie had grown up rather well. Her hair had grown long, her figure was very voluptuous and athletic, and (probably because of Bart's influence, he didn't know) had two very stylish tattoos on her shoulders. Her beloved pacifier, to whom she refused to throw away, held to her neck on a silver necklace.

Bart announced himself by clearing his throat.

Maggie turned and smiled, broadly. She then, in one quick motion, tossed her cigarette away, ran up and threw her arms around her brother's neck.

"I've missed you, dumb brother." She said, grinning.

"Jeez, don't have a cow, Mags'. I'm still living in Springfield, I'm not like Lisa, living in Washington." Bart returned with another grin.

"I know, but you've been at work so much, it seems like it's been forever." Maggie, kissed her brother on the cheek, and then slugged him on the shoulder.

"So, how did Gina's parole hearing go, is she staying out this time?" Maggie asked.

Bart sighed gloomily, shaking his head. "No, I'm afraid not. Her past continues to follow her, I'm afraid. Wrecking her boss's car after he fired her, seems to have finally nailed the coffin shut."

Gina, who Bart met in Juvie when he was ten, had been in contact with him ever since she got out and was adopted by a family. She and Bart had been dating all through High School but went separate ways afterwards. About a month ago she stepped into Bart's office and they tried the relationship again. Her latest problem was her temper to which she said she was getting counseling for. She wasn't very good at holding it in after Bart had called her to cancel a dinner due to a heavy workload. She then set fire to Bart's car and the police arrested her. Bart negotiated that she be on parole with counseling tied with it. She did fine for a few weeks but when her boss fired her for coming to work late twice, she threw a cylinder block through his windshield. The parole hearing didn't think she was taking her counseling seriously and Bart lost the case.

Maggie shook her head, "That's too bad. I have always liked her."

Bart merely shrugged, "It happens. So, anything big with you? How are you and Gerald doing?"

Gerald Thompson and Maggie had known each other since they were infants, but had never really got along. Not until junior high, where they found something attractive from one another, and had started dating.

"Not so good. After three years of him cheating on me, behind my back, I dropped him like third period Spanish."

Bart slugged her on the shoulder, "Good for you."

"Bart! Maggie! Homer just pulled in!" Called Marge from inside.

The two of them went back inside and as they did so did enter Homer and Lisa. Homer hasn't acquired his father's sagging facial features, but was well on his way. Bart smiled as his sister entered. Remembering when Lisa had entered a beauty pageant and Bart assured her that she was in fact beautiful, her adult appearance did not neglect that. Having grown short hair curled at the back, an athletic figure much like her sister's, and a small butterfly tattoo displayed tastefully on her naked left ankle.

Bart hugged her warmly, while just shaking Homer's hand.

"How are ya, boy?" Homer asked.

"I'm good, Homer." Bart replied.

Marge looked as though she were a kid at Christmas. "Well, dinner's ready, you four, let's eat."

Later, after dinner the Simpson family sat and talked in the living room.

"So, Lis', how's life in Washington?" Bart asked.

Lisa sighed, "Well, not exactly what I hoped, Karen seems to have her hands full with trying to get that increased budget for the "kids from other countries" plan." Lisa worked for the Secretary of Education and was helping with a funding for kids whose parents have come to the states on temporary visas, which was difficult due to a recent negative view on migration policies, which the current President is dealing with. Not to mention the negativity that some Senators were giving to Karen Howland's views on education.

"Basically, I'm exhausted, after working seventy to eighty hours a week, I've decided to take a few weeks off." Lisa continued. Lisa put down her wineglass and took Bart's hand. "But enough about me, how are you and Gina?"

Bart sighed, "Well, it could be better if it weren't for the fact that her temper gets the better of her. She violated her parole and she's back in prison."

Lisa shook her head, "Oh, Bart. I'm sorry."

Bart waived a dismissive hand, "Don't worry about it."

The truth was that Bart had given up on Gina, their relationship that is, when she torched his car. That's when they had finally broken up. Helping her with the parole was just to help her out when she needed it.

Lisa still looked saddened by the news. Bart patted her hand. "Believe me, sis, it's all for the better. She needs help and, unfortunately, I'm not the one who can give it to her. She'll be better down the long run."

Lisa looked up at him. "It's not so much her I'm worried about."

Bart looked at her curiously, "What do you mean?"

"Are you going to be okay? When you two left each other for different schools it tore you apart. You told me yourself, you felt that she was the biggest difference in your life. Not to mention what happened afterwards." Lisa said.

"Well, sure, but I was nineteen, Lisa. She was my first real relationship. There will be others. I'm not doomed. Believe me things are not going to repeat the way they did before. I'm not in that area, again."

Lisa sighed, "I'm just worried about you, you big idiot."

Bart grinned, "Glad to know I have my little sister to look out for me."

Lisa smiled. Maggie quickly sat down with them after getting bored of Homer going on about how he _really_ thinks that Lenny and Carl are secret gay lovers.

"So, what do you have planned for tomorrow? Lisa and I were thinking that you and Milhouse could come join us for a trip to the movies." Maggie asked Bart.

Bart shook his head, "Sorry, can't do. I'm interviewing for my secretary tomorrow."

"What happened with Fran?" Asked Marge, leaving Homer's rambling on how he invented rhinestone guns.

"She had to go back to college, so I'm without a secretary."

"Wait a minute, why didn't you ask me?" Asked Maggie.

Bart rolled his eyes, "C'mon Mags', could you really see yourself getting your big brother coffee or photo copying documents?"

Maggie looked to the side, "I guess not."

"How many of these interns do you have lined up, boy?" Asked Homer, who realized no on was listening to him and decided to join the party.

"Not interns, Dad, secretaries." Corrected Lisa.

"Twelve. All of who have experience except for one. This one forgot to put her name and listed as one of her references a top modeling company in New York. She's my first appointment tomorrow." Bart answered.

Lisa looked at her brother, "Please don't tell me you're already considering hiring her based on that!"

Bart cocked his head to one side and grinned, "Well, the thought has crossed my mind…"

"That's my boy!" Said Homer.

"Homer, please." Said Marge.

"Bart, really…" Lisa groaned.

"I'm kidding, I'm kidding. No, I really need to see if they're capable of doing the job right. That time Fran had gotten sick and I Okayed it for her sister Nicole to sub for her was a disaster. Her space was a mess, she messed up the coffee orders four times, and she was using the phone for way too many times. No, I'm not going to have to be serious about this one. Sorry, Homer." Bart said to his father.

Maggie sighed, "Oh well, maybe the four of us can do something later on."

Bart nodded. "Milhouse should be done at the Power Plant at that time."

The rest of the hour was talked by Homer on how he was so glad to be promoted to the position that Mr. Smithers once held and that his boss, Mr. Clemens, was treating Homer like he was the best employee. Mr. Burns had retired after getting seven kinds of radiation poisoning and went back to living at his estate with Smithers staying there as his helper. Milhouse got hired at the plant and was employed under Homer. Homer liked to refer to him as 'wiener-boy'.

The night ended quick and Bart got back into a cab and headed back to his apartment in East Springfield. His mind right now was entirely devoted to Lisa's question: would he really be okay, now with Gina out of the picture?

The next day, Bart got up and went to his office. Carrying his briefcase and a cup of coffee, he said "hi" to his associates as he passed their rooms and just as he was getting to his door at the end of the hallway, he stopped. Sitting in a chair, next to his door, reading Cosmo, was a person he never dreamed of meeting again.

A woman of impeccable beauty, with long raven hair, tanned skin and cat-like eyes. She looked up from her magazine and smiled.

"Hi, Bart." She breathed.

Jessica Lovejoy, the Reverend's daughter.

Jessica, after admitting to stealing the church's collection out of a cry for attention from her father, seventeen years ago, was sent back to boarding school but had tried to contact Bart several times. Bart refused them. Half on pure angst the other on the fact he was with Gina and he knew that Jessica loved to screw with guy's emotions.

Bart hadn't noticed he's been standing there, still, for over a minute without responding.

"Hi, Jessica." He said. Bart then went to his door and unlocked it. He held the door open. "Won't you come in?"

Jessica nodded. When she got up, Bart was suddenly awe struck on how much more Jessica had become in adult figure. She was as almost tall as he was and had a body to die for. Wearing a short skirt and a small top, which lead hardly anything to the imagination, and the air about her smelling sweetly of lilac. Bart led her inside through a second door to his office and motioned to a seat in front of his desk. As Bart sat down in his chair, he couldn't help but to think that Jessica was watching his every movement.

"So, Jessica, what brings you here?" He asked.

Jessica smiled, "Well, I heard that Bart Simpson became a lawyer and I had to see it for myself. I heard you really made a name for yourself when you defended Lionel Hutz at that disbarment hearing back in January."

Lionel Hutz, a lawyer who once defended Bart when he was accused of killing Principal Skinner, had gotten in trouble when, over five martinis, announced at the bar that his client that he was defending was actually guilty. Since Lionel helped him before, even though he didn't do a very good job at it, Bart felt inclined to help the poor shmoe.

"Yeah. It was tough. I had two things up my sleeve: One, the judge was a good friend of mine and that he knew that Hutz was an idiot when he drinks. Two, the guy Hutz was defending, got shot during the verdict, so the outcome would have played out the same way."

Jessica nodded. Not saying anything else.

Bart watched her closely. Here, sitting in front of him was a woman, who at a younger age made him do whatever she wanted.

"Why are you here, Jessica?" He asked again.

Jessica batted those devilish eyelashes of hers, "Why, Bart Simpson. Didn't you get my application?"

Bart's mind raced to the application with no name.

"Were you the one who didn't put down their name?"

Jessica nodded.

"Why didn't you leave your name?" Bart asked.

Jessica smiled a seductively toothy grin, "To be honest, I wasn't sure whether or not you would like to see me."

Bart sat back in his chair and slowly rocked. "You could have called me."

Jessica got up and sat on his desk, brushing her hair away as she did. "Then I would have missed a chance to see what Bart Simpson has become. I wasn't really sure you wanted to see me. You'd been avoiding my calls several years ago and the thing that happened when we first met…I really wasn't sure."

Bart could not take his eyes of this woman. Lord help him, it was hard. But, he was older now and the past really was not withstanding. He could simply call security and have her removed from his office, since it was obvious that she wasn't here for a job.

"So, what now? Do you, maybe, want to get drinks later and catch up or what?"

Jessica gave him a shocked expression; "I'm here for a job interview. Whether we have drinks afterwards, I think, depends how the interview goes; don't you think?"

_You've got to be kidding. _Thought Bart.

"It says on your application, as a reference, that you were part of a top modeling agency. Why go from there to being a secretary?"

Jessica threw her head back, dramatically, and sighed, "I got tired of it. As you know of me, I'm a person who likes to be in control of things. Modeling really doesn't allow that. So, when I moved back to Springfield and had _the_ most uncomfortable conversation with my dad, I decided to look for work in the Springfield Gazette and found your job listing."

_This is too good to be true; she's full of it._ Bart thought to himself.

"But, Jessica, why a secretary? I'm sure there are way better jobs for you out there that you would love better than this stupid job."

Jessica laughed, "That's what the _Rev_. said. He told me that being '_Bart Simpson's secretary' _would_ 'condemn me straight to hell'_. No, The reason is…" She then grabbed Bart's tie and pulled his face to her's, inch by inch, until their noses were almost touching. "I want a job and I think being _Bart Simpson's secretary_ would be perfect."

The way she said the last sentence, to Bart, could have put him into a trance. It was totally hypnotizing.

Bart gulped. Her perfume was breathing its way down his spine and back up to his brain to where it was swirling, causing all kinds of euphoric colors and images.

"Well?" She asked.

_Why am I letting her do this? …Because it is sooo damn good. _

Bart found his conscience eating itself alive from both the intoxication, it was receiving from her perfume, and the hypnotic gaze she was giving him now.

"Well…" Bart stumbled.

Alex Whitney stepped off of the Springfield Express Bus and into the warm spring air, sighing deeply out of satisfaction from a four-hour trip. Her brown hair accompanied with blonde highlights swayed in the soft wind that accompanied the warm afternoon. Wearing everything from Prada to Gucci, she wasn't really looking like a normal local. That was far from the truth, though. She smiled to herself.

_It's been a long time, hasn't it, Springfield._

She looked around at her scenery, Moe's Tavern being directly in front of her; she smiled. Waiting on a bench, reading a newspaper was her good friend, Lisa Simpson.

"Hey, girl!" She called out.

Lisa looked up from her paper, threw it down and ran up to Alex and embraced her warmly.

"Alex! It was so both weird and wonderful to get your call last night!" Lisa exclaimed, happily.

"Jeez, Lisa, get yourself together, won't you? How've you been?" Alex asked, smiling.

Lisa told her everything that has happened to her then inquired about Alex.

"Well, after Jeremy dropped me for a size one and a half slut, I got out of fashion designing and instead went into fashion critiquing for the Shelbyville Times. Two years of that and I really got bored and decided to leave; that and they were going to fire me for calling on them for their awful discrimination on minorities."

Lisa nodded. As long as she knew Alex, which was since she was eight years old. Alex had always been trying to be the next Edith Head. In Middle School, for the Christmas Concert, she insisted on selecting the fabrics needed for the production. Then in High School, she nearly had a fight with the cheerleading coach for how her cheerleading uniform looked since Alex decided to make it look better. When they both went off for different colleges they had lost track of each other through missed emails and phone calls. Now, here she was again.

"So, what do you plan to do now that you're back in Springfield?" Lisa asked.

Alex took off her sun glasses, "Well, I want to open a fashion store in Springfield. The money I saved from those two jobs is enough to secure it. All I need to do is find a building in a good district and then arrange the purchase from it."

Lisa smiled, "Sounds good. Say, would you care to come to our place for dinner tonight? I'm sure my parents can have you stay with us until you're able to find a place."

Alex smiled, "That'd be great."

Alex had been to the Simpson's house before, on the account of making friends with Lisa when they were in the second grade together. She never felt uneasy; this had always felt like a second home to her. In a way it was a better of two homes. Her mother had developed a dependency towards alcohol when she was twelve and she never really got to know her father, due to an ugly divorce between them. Marge always had cookies whenever she and Lisa would come over to play and Homer would make her laugh through his many antics. Her fondest memory was when he tried to make a prom dress for Lisa out of a shower curtain and a burlap sack. Coming back to the household was refreshing. Marge greeted her as soon as they reached the driveway.

"Alex! Hi! Won't you come in! I've managed to make two batches of cookies this time so you girls won't fight with Homer over them."

Alex grinned, another fond memory of hers.

After polishing off the cookies and laughing at Homer fighting over one with their new dog, Santa's Little helper 2, Alex sat with the rest of the family in the living room.

"So, Alex, how long are you going to be in Springfield for?" Asked Marge.

"Well, I'm planning on opening a dress shop, so probably for a long time."

Marge looked at the clock, "Hey you three, it's getting late. Alex, I'm sorry to say that you'll be sleeping in Bart's old room, because Homer's using Maggie's old room for his collective beer mugs he got at Duff Gardens." Marge then sighed, "I really wished Homer just paid the fifty cents for one instead of stealing a truck load of them and having us banned from Duff Gardens for life." Marge then yawned and went upstairs. Homer was snoring peacefully on the couch.

Five minutes later Lisa and Alex did likewise and headed upstairs. Opening up Bart's door, Alex turned to Lisa.

"So, what happened with your brother? Are he and Gina in prison? It really wouldn't surprise me."

Lisa thought about how to answer this, but shrugged and smiled. "I want it to be a surprise, I'll let you know tomorrow. Good night."

Lisa left to her room and Alex proceeded on into Bart's. Stepping into the room she was welcomed by the deep cleaning smell that came, probably, from Marge's hard work on desmelling the room. Inside the room were various mementos from Bart's childhood. Various Krusty the Clown paraphernalia lay everywhere from on the bed to the bedside table. Other things were there too, as signs of him growing up: band posters, swimsuit pin-ups, and a picture of his girlfriend Gina. Alex found herself staring at that picture. Her mind went back to High School where she was sitting in the cafeteria with Lisa and Janey. They were planning the HomeComing Dance when an apple came and pelted Alex in the back of the head. Alex remembered turning around and looking to the table four rows behind them and seeing Bart, Gina, Nelson, Milhouse, and the twins, Sherri and Terri, laughing their heads off.

"Sorry, Alex, I was aiming for my sister's face." Said Bart.

"You shouldn't feel sorry, Bart. It probably did _Fashion Queen_ some good." Said Gina. Alex hated Gina with a passion. That girl made her life miserable in High School. The nickname _Fashion Queen_ never lay off. What's worse was the others at the table were just as worse. Nelson was always sneaking up behind her and snapping her bra and the twins were always trying to sabotage her make-up when she was in the bathroom by stealing her purse. Milhouse was just bad for who he was. Always trying to gang up and try to ask out either Lisa or Alex and when either of them said no would start making rumors about them all over the school. What the weirdest thing was, was that Bart was always the one apologizing for his friends' behaviors. He never did anything against Alex out of mischief. But, why? Bart always did what his friends did, or some times more. Yet, he never did anything to her on purpose, which was weird because he always loved showing off for Gina. Gina loved it when Alex was humiliated or being picked on. Bart never did anything to her.

_Well…except…._

Sleep started intruding on Alex's thoughts and she collapsed on the bed.

The next morning Bart was sitting on his bed with his hands on the back of his neck staring at the wooden floor of his apartment.

_Why did you do it? You told yourself you weren't going to be suckered in by her again and it happened. Again. Why?_

Bart kept asking himself those questions as he went his way to work. Seeing the vacant seat she was sitting in previously, outside his door, Bart thought to himself.

_She's probably not even going to show. Then she'll come in late and use her powers to bring me to letting her off the hook._

Bart walked through his door and proceeded to go unlock his office.

"Good morning, Mr. Simpson."

Bart spun around and saw Jessica right behind him, holding a steaming cup of coffee and a newspaper under her arm. Her face had such a grin that it should've been put on Mount Rushmore.

"Good morning, Jessica." Said Bart and took the coffee and the Newspaper she was holding and went inside his office.

As soon as Bart sat down, Jessica was standing in front of his desk with a little flipbook and a pink pen.

Bart started up his computer then turned to look at her.

"You have three messages: one from Nelson Muntz who was wondering if you'd be kind enough to be there at his hearing. The second from Milhouse, wondering if you'd like to go bowling later today; and the third from your sister Lisa, who was just saying that she was going to pop by for a visit." Jessica said it all in a singsong sort of manner.

Bart stared at her.

"Say, isn't Nelson that kid who bullied people back when we were kids?" Jessica asked.

"Yeah. Now he's a bouncer at Moe's and he's on trial for hitting a guy with a beer bottle." Bart replied, still staring at Jessica.

"Is he innocent?" Asked Jessica.

"There's a lot of evidence to prove it, yes." Bart said, still struggling with his mind on what he was hearing and seeing.

Was this really the same person?

"Cool. Well, I'll get the file, cause I think you'll need it." Jessica turned and walked away but stopped and looked over her shoulder, "Oh, and by the way, I'd love to have a drink with you some time soon, shall we say nine o'clock? That way you can still go bowling with Milhouse." She then winked and closed the door behind her.

Bart looked at the door for several minutes until his phone rang.

Bart answered it, "Yes?"

"I have your sister on the phone." Said Jessica.

"Put her through."

There was a pause then Lisa's voice came in.

"Hi Bart, how are you?"

Bart leaned back in his chair and sighed, "I've been better."

"Maggie and I waited for you to call and I called your office and home several times, is everything ok?" She asked.

Bart closed his eyes and put his hand to his face, "I'll let you be the judge of that when you come and see me today."

There was a pause.

"Bart, what's wrong?" Lisa asked.

"Oh, you'll see." Said Bart and started roughing up his hair.

After Lisa hung up the phone, she turned to Maggie who was sitting next to her at the kitchen table.

"I wonder what that's all about?" Maggie said.

Lisa started curling the phone cord with her finger, "Well, from the way Bart said it, it can't be good."

Both Maggie and Lisa turned as Alex came in the room yawning.

"Good morning, Alex. How did you survive a night in Bart's room?" Said Lisa, getting up so Alex could have her seat.

Alex smiled, "I hate to say this, but, your brother sure has a cozy bed. I'll bet him and Gina were very comfortable in there."

Maggie looked away.

"Maggie! Wow, I can't believe I didn't see you there, How've you been?" Asked Alex.

Maggie didn't answer; instead she got up and left the kitchen.

"What's wrong? Was it something I've said?" Asked Alex.

Lisa looked in the direction her sister went and sighed, "No, it wasn't anything you said. She's just a little worried about Bart right now. We both are."

Lisa got up and got out some vegetarian sausages and started frying them. One of the many things that made her and Alex good friends were that they both were vegetarians.

"So, what are we going to do today?" Asked Alex, still sensing the air and hoping to liven the conversation.

Lisa sat down and started passing out the dishes, her mind elsewhere.

Alex grabbed her hand, "Lisa, what's wrong?"

Lisa sat down and looked into her friend's eyes, "Alex, there's something I haven't told you, about Bart."

Alex leaned forward.

Lisa continued, "After Bart and Gina graduated they were going to separate schools. Gina told Bart that she didn't think they could make a long distance relationship work. Bart felt differently. They tried for a month, but after that Gina stopped answering Bart's calls and Bart was starting to worry. During the Spring Break, Bart flew to the city where she was at and visited her dorm. There he found her in bed with another guy."

Alex nodded, gravely.

_Typical Gina._ Alex thought, bitterly.

"Bart really went off the deep end. He started to call us and was crying and he said he was panicking; we started to think it was just a phase that he was going to get over it. Then, Mom went to his college to give him a care package and found him in his bedroom with a loaded gun and a picture of Gina clutched in his hand."

Alex stared at Lisa, open-mouthed.

"He had a loaded gun?" She breathed.

Lisa nodded, "Mom had him go see a psychiatrist. Bart has been better ever since. But later, Gina came back into his life. They've been dating until recently."

Alex groaned, "Please don't tell me the past repeated itself."

Lisa shook her head, "No, thank Buddha, it didn't. Gina got in trouble with the law and she's now back in jail."

Alex sighed in relief, "So, how's Bart been doing, since?"

Lisa shrugged, "He's ok, or so he tells us, the problem with Bart is, is that he never really lets on how he's really feeling most of the time."

Alex nodded. Her times when she was over at the Simpson's house, Bart never really talked about personal issues with his family at dinner, nor did he when he was talking with her and Lisa. He always changed the subject when Lisa asked him.

"Is that why Maggie reacted that way, when I mentioned Gina." Alex asked.

Lisa nodded, "Yeah, I think so. Although with her it's like Bart, they're both pretty private. In fact they're very much alike in some ways."

Alex sighed out of relief. "So, are we going to visit Bart

Today?"

Lisa smiled and nodded, "Let's eat first, then we'll go."

The two girls then gossiped over other things as they ate their breakfast.

Later, getting into Lisa's car, the two drove to the East Side of Springfield. They then parked in front of a two story building. Two plaques were screwed to the outside wall; both were golden plaques. One said "Marc Jacobs: Catering Company" the other said, "Law offices of Kelly, Barnaby, and Greg".

"So, is Bart a caterer, now?" Alex asked as they walked up the steps of the building.

Lisa grinned, "Wait and see."

They went to the elevator inside the very busy lobby and Lisa pressed the button for the third floor. When the doors opened, Alex saw that they were in the law offices.

"So, Bart's like an accountant, right?" Alex asked again.

Lisa didn't say anything, but continued to grin as they went down the stretch of offices to the last room at the end of the hall. Lisa pointed to a smaller golden plaque, which was also stenciled.

Alex bent her head slightly and read it, " 'Bart Simpson, Attorney.' Attorney? Bart Simpson became a lawyer!"

Lisa laughed. "Told ya you'd be surprised."

Alex was stunned. But when Lisa opened the door, it was her turn to be stunned.

"Hi Lisa, good to see you again. Mr. Simpson's in a meeting with a client right now, he'll be with you, shortly."

Lisa stared at Jessica then turned her head back to Alex, who didn't have a response to this, either. The two sat down on a love seat across from Jessica's desk, the door to Bart's room being the only thing between them.

Alex watched Lisa close her eyes and mouth 'How could he?'

Alex moved close to Lisa to whisper, even though Jessica was preoccupied with an issue of Vanity Fair.

"Who's she?" Alex whispered.

Lisa didn't answer, just continued on shaking her head.

Just then, the door to Bart's room opened and out walked another person that made Alex, especially, cringe.

Standing at five foot nine, wearing a sports-jacket, covered with scars all over on his left cheek and forehead, and being incredibly bald, was a person all too familiar to Alex.

The man looked at the pair of them and laughed, "Haw haw! _The Brain _and _Fashion Queen _return. I hope the sequel is better than the original. Where are my car keys?"

Nelson Muntz.

Jessica looked up from her magazine; "They're in your hand, Nelson."

Nelson stared at his hand and then seconds later said, "Oh, thanks, Jessica." Nelson then left the office.

Jessica shook her head, "That bar stool must've done more than just a 'scratch'. Nelson was always a show off."

Jessica then dialed on the phone, started filing her nails, then said, "Mr. Simpson? I have your sister Lisa and a friend waiting to see you; ok to send them in? Alright then."

She then put down the phone and looked at Lisa and Alex, "Mr. Simpson will see you now."

Alex still wasn't sure what to make of this 'Jessica' but the way Lisa reacted when they came in; it probably wasn't good. Lisa led the way into her brother's office, And Alex still couldn't get over the idea of what Bart had become. When they went inside, Bart had his back to them. When Alex closed the door behind her, he turned around. Alex was more surprised than ever. Here she was, expecting to see a tall but lanky boy-man, only to see something entirely else. Bart was fit, well dressed, well groomed, and his appearance reminded her of Hugh Jackman for some reason.

"Please sit." Bart said to both of them.

They did.

Bart sat down in his chair and shook his head wearily.

"Why does the past seem to follow me?" Bart put his head on his desk and groaned loudly.

Alex was sure he was talking to Lisa, cause Alex had no idea what he was talking about.

"She did it again, didn't she?" Lisa said.

Bart nodded, "And what's worse, she's actually serious about the damn job. Maybe it's all my imagination, she'll probably find some way to screw me over again."

Lisa in turn shook her head, "Oh, Bart. First Gina now Jessica?"

_The secretary?_ Thought Alex.

"I called my doctor. She actually thought this was a _good_ thing, can you believe it? She thinks that seeing old faces will help me cope and move on. But this is Jessica we're talking about, Jessica Lovejoy, my angel from hell." Bart rubbed his eyes with his hands. He then stopped and looked at Alex for the first time.

"Who's your friend?" He asked Lisa.

Alex smiled, "Why, _Mr. Simpson_, would you remember me better if you tried hitting your sister in the face with an apple and miss?"

Bart's eyes went wide and his mouth dropped, "Alex Whitney? Is that really you?"

"In the yellow flesh." Grinned Alex.

"I didn't recognize you without the blonde." Bart grinned back.

Alex smiled, "I dyed it when I moved to L.A. According to someone, there, blonde's are so nineties."

Bart was still staring at her, which made Alex blush, a little.

"Great job growing up, man." Bart said.

Lisa faked a cough, interrupting the whole thing, "So, Bart. What are you going to do about Jessica?"

Bart shifted his attention back to his sister, "What can I do, Lis'? As her employer I can't fire her without good cause and besides she really hasn't done anything yet and she's doing a great job."

"This is Jessica we're talking about Bart. Jessica! Don't you remember when she got the whole town to blame you for stealing the collection?"

Bart nodded, "Yes, I do, Lisa. But that was seventeen years ago, people can change, you know that."

Lisa sat back and crossed her arms, "Oh really? Why did you hire her then? Her good performance record? A creditable back history related to the job? Face it Bart, you hired her because she _made you_ hire her."

Bart tilted back in his chair and groaned loudly, "Ay Carumba! Yes, I know that. I can't do anything about it, though. She's here to stay until she does something."

Just then a loud beep came from Bart's phone on his desk.

Bart pressed a button, "Yes?"

"I have Martin Prince on hold, Mr. Simpson. He says he needs some legal advice concerning another fake patent."

Martin Prince had gone to Yale and then came back to Springfield to be the understudy of the late Professor John Frink. After Frink had died from too much helium exposure, Martin had acquired the lab but was constantly in and out of courts due to various scientists claiming that Frink's inventions were mock ups of their own.

"Tell him to hold a little longer." Bart answered her and then released the button.

"Sorry, Lis', but I got some work to do. I'll talk to you tonight and we'll continue the conversation then, ok?" Bart said getting up.

Lisa sighed, "I guess so. Please, please be careful with Jessica. You know what she's capable of, Bart."

Bart came around his desk and hugged his sister, "I will. Promise."

He then turned and hugged Alex who blushed even harder, "Good to see you again, Alex. Welcome back."

After the two of them said 'goodbye' and then getting out quick to avoid anything from Jessica, Lisa turned to Alex as they were leaving the building.

"What was that all about?"

Alex shrugged, "I don't know. I think you know this whole 'Jessica thing' better than I do. I really don't have an opinion."

Lisa shook her head, "No, not that. Back there in Bart's office. You two were flirting with each other."

Alex laughed, "Me? Flirt with your brother? C'mon Lisa, even though he's cleaned up a lot, he's still Bart Simpson."

Lisa shrugged, "I don't know, I thought I saw something, that's all."

Alex shook her head, "You're imagining things."

Alex did not want to tell Lisa what she really was thinking. Getting back into Lisa's old beat-up Ford Taurus, Alex turned her head and gazed up the building to Bart's floor, secretly wondering what Bart thought of her after meeting again after all this time.

_What Will Happen?_

_Will Bart be once again in the tangled web of Jessica Lovejoy?_

_Will Alex discover that she actually likes Bart Simpson?_

_Has Jessica Really changed?_

_Are Lenny and Carl really gay lovers?_

_Find out this and more on the next exciting episode of: Bart Simpson: Attorney at Law!_


	2. Life's a bitch and then you meet Jessica

Bart Simpson: Attorney at Law

Disclaimer: I do not own The Simpsons, capesh?

Chapter 2: Life's a bitch and then you meet Jessica.

Little did Alex know, Bart was watching them from the window as they sped off, thinking similarly. He talked with Martin on the phone for two hours going over dates and Professor Frink's old records. This part of the job Bart really hated. After that Bart left for lunch and went to his favorite restaurant, Café de Jimbo, which was named after the same guy who gave Bart toilet swirls when he was young. Jimbo Jones had dropped out of High School at the age of sixteen and his mother was outraged. She then enlisted him into Springfield Job Corps and Jimbo decided to go into the culinary class. He fell in love with it and got both his G.E.D and a food handler's card. Afterwards he went into the advanced training part of the culinary program and then a year later was working in a small kitchen in Springfield. Jimbo made a name for himself and was approached by a man who wanted to make him a silent partner and the two opened the restaurant Bart was now eating at, two years later. This was really Bart's get away from everything; it's where he felt he was at peace.

Twenty-five minutes later after wrestling two calzones down, happily, Bart went back to his office. Jessica looked up as he came in.

"How was your lunch, Mr. Simpson?" She asked, sweetly.

Bart rolled his eyes, "It was good. By the way, Jessica, you can call me Bart. I may wear a suit but I don't go far into the business by having people call me by my last name."

Jessica put down her eyelash kit and leaned forward on her desk, her hands resting underneath her chin, "Why, Mr. Simpson, that would be really unprofessional of me, if I did that."

_Whatever._ Bart thought.

Jessica sat herself back down, "By the way, Mr. Simpson, Milhouse is waiting in your office."

Bart grumbled thanks and was starting to wonder if a person could get fired for just being an annoying pain in the ass. Upon entering his room he was greeted by his best friend in the whole world.

"Hey, Bart, what's shakin'?" Milhouse had lost almost all his hair; he was looking very close to his father, and had gained a little more weight but could hardly be considered pudgy, as Milhouse was an avid GYM user.

"Nothing much," Bart lied, "What's new with you?"

Milhouse shrugged, "Samantha is dealing with her morning sickness, so she's preoccupied a lot of the time. I got that part time job at Android's Dungeon, Comic Book Guy caved and finally let me open the newly refurbished 'Aqua Spleen' comics."

Bart smiled at his nerdish friend. When Milhouse had helped Bart through a dark phase, when Bart and Gina broke up, Bart felt inclined to help his friend who struck out with more girls than a blind kid at bat. He found Samantha Stanky at a university south of Springfield doing Christian Studies and met up with her. It turned out that she missed Milhouse a lot and Bart felt guilty for breaking the two of them up like he did when the three of them were younger. The two of them reconnected and then three years later married and were now expecting their first child.

"Ready to go bowling?" Bart asked as he shut down his computer.

Milhouse sighed, "Actually, Bart, I can't. That's why I came over here. I promised Ralph I'd fix that drain that his dad has and it looks like an all nighter."

"Oh." Bart said, he slipped back into his chair. "How about we compromise then, tomorrow you and Samantha come over to my place and I'll fix you guys some 'Stir Fry ala Bart', sound good?"

Milhouse nodded, "Yeah sounds good. Samantha loves your cooking, so we'll do that."

Bart got up and shook Milhouse's hand and felt like as if Bart was still working at the moment.

Milhouse then left after that. Bart went to his window over looking the city.

_What a crappy day._ He thought.

Looking into the reflection of the window, he saw Jessica standing in the doorway.

"I heard him bail out on you. Such a shame." She sounded as though it was something of a victory for her.

"Yeah, turns out he has other things. So, shall we grab that drink?" Bart asked, wearily rubbing the day out of his eyes.

Jessica gave another killer grin, "I thought you'd never ask."

Truth was, was that Bart didn't want to be anywhere near this person, but alcohol seemed rather welcoming after being put off by Milhouse and those two hours trying to get Nelson to understand court room procedure.

Bart and Jessica left five minutes later and rode a cab to Moe's. The place had changed a lot considering how Moe renovated the place to seem more like a college hang out rather than a hole in the ground.

As soon as they got in Jessica turned to Bart.

"Excuse me, I have to use the bathroom." She then went off to the other end of the bar where the restrooms were.

Bart found a small table and ordered a Jagermeister for himself and then two more for later on.

When Jessica came back from the bathroom, Bart's jaw fell to the floor. She apparently had changed while she was in there because now, going from a business-like tan pantsuit, she was now wearing a black back laced dress that clung to her figure as if it were saran wrap.

"Much better." She said stretching. She then ordered an apple martini for herself.

Bart shook his head. Ideas were forming and not the kinds he wanted to have involving this particular person.

Jessica put down her drink and grabbed Bart's arm, "So, tell me. When did it all change from Bart Simpson being a bad boy to being a rich, successful, somebody?"

Bart shrugged, "Well, I guess a little after a few months when you had got sent back to boarding school. A lawyer from northern Springfield talked to me about his job and I was hooked. I decided to be better in my classes and the rest is history. But I didn't stay away from detention."

Jessica nodded, her eyes were half-slitted and her lips curved into one of the most seductive smiles, Bart had ever seen.

"Have another drink; you look beat." Said Jessica.

Bart nodded. The day had slapped him awfully hard and the Jagermeister was giving him the edge he needed to end the day sort of happily.

The next day came as Bart opened his eyes. He was in his apartment and in his bed. The morning's sun hit him with an unwelcoming force. Sitting up, he looked down and noticed he wasn't wearing any clothes. To more of his surprise, he wasn't alone either. An arm protruded from underneath the comforter and was lying across his waist. Bart looked to his left and saw the sleeping form of Jessica Lovejoy. Eyes closed, she had one of the most satisfied smiles on her face.

Meanwhile in Bart's other bed, waking up alone, Alex arose inhaling deeply. Her dreams last night had been strange ones. All of them had been about Bart. Alex got out of the bed and paced around the room.

_It's just because you saw him for the first time in a long time, that's all. _She told herself. _It doesn't mean anything._

There was a knock at the door,

"Alex, you up yet? It's 11 o'clock in the morning." Said Lisa.

"Yeah, I'm up, I'll be down in a few." She replied.

Alex got dressed and was downstairs just as there came a knock at the to The Simpson's door.

Lisa answered it and as she opened the door sighed; "How may times do I have to tell you? No!"

Alex went to Lisa's side to see whom she was talking to.

There in the doorway stood two guys, one older and taller than the other, both dressed in white collared shirts, with black ties and backpacks. Holding books with crosses on them. Their name tags said "Rodd" and "Todd Flanders" on them.

"But, Lisa," Said Rodd, "You really need the Lord's blessing."

"I'm a Buddhist, you idiot! How many times do we need to do this until you understand that?" Lisa vented.

Todd, like his father had a mustache and glasses, simply shook his head, "Oh, boy here comes miss drama queen, again. Lisa, when will you stop this foolishness and except Jesus Christ into your life?"

Lisa yelled, "When hell freezes over!" She then slammed the door in their faces.

Ned Flanders had died four years ago, leaving his home to his sons. The two then went off and joined a missionary right after dropping out of high school. They kept the house by doing telemarketing on the side, which they were apparently very good at.

"Ahg! I hate those, two." Lisa steamed.

Alex smiled. She remembered when the two of them did this to Lisa every year around Christmas time.

The two went into the kitchen and sat down to eat breakfast. Soon, Homer came in, yawned and sniffed the air.

"Mmmm. Lisa, honey, what smells so good?" He asked licking his chops.

"Veggie breakfast burritos. Want one, Dad?" Lisa smiled.

Homer made a mock gagging gesture and went to the fridge and picked out a half-empty box of "Lard Lad" doughnuts and a six pack of Duff, then went off to the living room and turned on the set.

Lisa sighed heavily. Alex knew that she was always concerned for her father's health.

Soon Marge came in and sleepily said "good morning" to them and sat down while Lisa got her mother a cup of coffee.

Alex smiled. She had always thought of Marge as a surrogate mother to her and she knew, with her children all grown up that it was a nice relief to not having the morning routine of making breakfast for everyone.

"So," Marge yawned, sleepily, "What did you girls do yesterday?"

Marge did her usual errands around town and had visited her sister Patty who was living with her new girlfriend, Yana.

Lisa sighed, "Well…we visited Bart at his office."

Marge smiled and turned to Alex. "I bet you were surprised at what's happened with him since you last saw him. I'm so proud of him. He's really turned around."

Lisa rolled her eyes and sighed heavily, "Not as much as you think, Mom. Some things with Bart never really go away."

Marge eyed her daughter, suspiciously. "What do you mean by that, Lisa?"

"When we went to his office we met his new secretary. It's Jessica Lovejoy."

Marge straightened up, "Who?" Her voice seemed to have a serious end to it.

Lisa sat back and nodded, "Jessica. She's come back to Springfield and what's she's after from Bart, he doesn't know. The thing that's surprising is that she's taking the job seriously."

Marge sighed, despairingly, and got up from the table and looked out the window. "I hope Bart remembers what kind of person she is and avoids getting into anything with her."

Both Lisa and Alex nodded. Lisa told Alex about what kind of person Jessica was on the ride back from Bart's office. She didn't do it in front of Lisa but Alex sort of laughed at Bart's situation. He always liked people who were dangerous for him. Nelson, Gina, Jessica, Sherry and Terry, Milhouse, all of them were people you'd like to avoid and yet Bart welcomed them with open arms. And yet, she also felt sorry for Bart to be hurt by these people as well.

"Hey Lisa?" She asked breaking up the negative atmosphere, "Do you think your brother could help me out finding a location for my dress shop?"

Lisa smiled, "Yeah, I believe he could. I'll bet he'll also help you with the negotiations to secure it. He's a very fierce person when he makes deals."

Alex grinned, "I remember. Back in High School, when Martin wanted to ban the school rock concerts and instead have the traditional dances, Bart spent only a couple of minutes talking with him and got Martin to change his mind."

Lisa laughed, "I remember that. Poor Martin looked as though he got his very first 'A-' after that conversation. Do you remember the concert Bart arranged for the school? He got Spinal Tap to come back to Springfield, and the night totally was awesome."

Alex, suddenly, dropped her face and looked off to the side, sadly. "Yeah…yeah, it was really great."

Lisa put a hand on her friend's, "Oh my god. Alex, I'm so sorry. I forgot about that."

Alex shrugged and managed a small smile, "It's ok. I'll live."

Lisa smiled and patted Alex's hand.

Meanwhile, at the Springfield YMCA, Maggie was getting ready for her yoga class. She'd been coming here ever since she was thirteen and was able to take classes. She loves this place. When Maggie was seven, she was surfing the Internet and found a website that had Bart's name on it called: "Bart Simpson: Springfield's Biggest Sissy". Looking into it, it was a video taken when Bart was ten and was doing a ballet number, wearing a mask. Maggie was intrigued. Not by how her brother was rushed on stage and making a fool of himself but the dancing itself. She bugged Bart for days until he finally broke down and showed her some steps. She then asked Marge to order her some dancing videos and Homer cleaned out the garage so she could practice in it. Maggie was addicted to dancing from there on in. So much, in fact, that she didn't really care about anything else. It was only when she was in High School that she decided she wanted to dance professionally that Marge objected. Marge insisted that her daughter go to college and find a job that wouldn't lead to unemployment. Maggie was a very good dancer but Marge told her to just use it for fun and not as a line of work. Maggie told her mother that she dropped out of High School and was now attending a dance academy in East Springfield. Marge was infuriated. She told Maggie that if she was going be so independent that maybe she try to find some other place to live. Maggie did, with her Aunt Selma. Selma allowed her to stay as long as she helped with the rent since Patty had moved out and into a new place with a lover. Maggie worked here as an assistant lifeguard. Swimming being another thing she loved to do. Marge and her finally got to sit down and worked out their differences but Maggie still decided to live with Aunt

Selma. Upon walking into the class, Jackie, the instructor approached Maggie.

"Hey, Mags'? I have a favor, I need to ask."

"What is it?" Maggie asked.

Jackie pointed to a woman who had long black hair and a very sultry look about her, "This is Jessica Lovejoy, she's new here. Do you mind showing her around?"

The name sounded familiar to Maggie, but she would think on it later since the class was about to start.

"Sure, ok." Maggie said.

Maggie walked up to Jessica who was busy talking with Sherry and Terry, who were regulars at the class. Maggie decided not to be rude and wait for their conversation to end.

"Wow! He was that good? Even drunk?" Sherry asked, wide-eyed.

Jessica laughed, "What can I say, I guess guys get better with age."

"Boy, Jessica, you're lucky. Just be glad Gina's not with him anymore otherwise you'd have to put up with her violent temper." Said Terry.

Maggie turned her head immediately towards the three girls.

_What?_

She hadn't been listening to them but was now all ears.

Jessica grinned, "Well, I don't know about "Gina", but I know how to keep a guy and not drive him away."

"But Bart Simpson? I thought you said, when we were younger, that he was too much of a wimp?" Said Sherry.

Jessica closed her eyes and gave a sort of devious, seductive, smile, "Well, that was in the past. Now that he has money, good looks, and is good at what he does. I think I could be around for awhile."

Both the twins laughed.

Maggie didn't. Instead she left. She knew if she stayed any longer she was either going to be sick from Jessica bragging about how good her brother was in bed or possibly attack that smirky bitch. Maggie knew one thing was certain, she needed to talk to Bart about this.

_What deep, dark, thing in the past is troubling Alex?_

_Is Bart ever going to get away from Jessica Lovejoy?_

_Will Homer ever change his diet?_

_Find out all this and more on the next: Bart Simpson: Attorney at Law!_

A/N: I want to say thank you to those who reviewed the first chapter, thanks guys! The next chapter coming up soon, so those who read these and like them but do not review, you'll still get them but please review, even if it's harsh.

Q-n-P


	3. Lip Service

Chapter 3: A trip down mammary lane.

Milhouse Van Houten was sleeping peacefully in his bed next to his darling wife, Samantha, until a loud, abrupt, knock came at his door. Getting up, and walking to the door he paused, as he smelled the air.

"Wow, I wondered if something has died?" He said aloud to himself.

Opening the door, he revealed Bart Simpson. His hair matted, eyes blood-shot, wearing his tank top, a pair of dirty jeans, and holding a bottle of Jack.

"Bart! What happened? You're a mess, get in here before anyone sees you."

Pulling Bart inside, Milhouse went to the kitchen and started up the coffee machine. He then went to a closet and grabbed an afghan blanket that his mother made for him, and draped it around Bart.

"What happened to you?" He asked as he sat down next to Bart.

"Jessica…Jessica happened to me." Bart shuddered. Bart couldn't remember a time when he had felt so awful. Well, maybe the time when he was forced to shave his aunts legs when he was ten.

Milhouse nodded. He knew all about Jessica.

Bart turned away from his friend, "I…I…slept with her last night…"

"Were you drunk?" Milhouse eyed him.

Bart nodded.

Milhouse sighed, "Well, at least you got it out of the way."

Bart turned back to Milhouse and glared at him.

" 'Got it out of the way'? What the hell, Milhouse! This isn't, exactly, something I was planning."

Milhouse sighed, "Yeah right, Bart. Listen to yourself. You had a thing for Jessica when we first met her seventeen years ago, and now she shows up, insanely hot, and you're telling me that the thought never came up in your mind?"

Bart looked away, "Maybe."

Milhouse, then, slugged him on the shoulder, "So? What are you mopping for? Go out with her."

Bart stood up, dropping the bottle that was in his lap to the ground; "First of all, I'm her employer, and second, are you insane? Don't you remember what kind of person she was when we were younger! She's that times seventeen years!"

Milhouse, sleepily, rubbed his eyes, "Yes, Bart, I know, but think of it this way, you could get a lot out of this. Besides, you could use a little entertainment after Gina." Milhouse looked at his watch, "Bart, if it's cool with you, I really need my sleep for the plant, tomorrow, your dad's really running me ragged, can we talk more about this tomorrow?"

Bart, too, rubbed his eyes, "Actually, call me at my folks' place, I think I'm gonna crash there for the rest of the day."

Milhouse nodded as he yawned and slumped back off to the bedroom.

Bart had arrived at his home around six o' clock in the morning. He found the oil can that he had used when he was younger to sneak into the house with out being heard, and applied the liquid on the hinges. Slumping up to his bedroom, he took off his tank top and pants and collapsed onto his bed, sleep quickly overtaking him.

Alex awoke the next day yawing; she looked at the clock, seeing it was ten-thirty. She got out of bed and stretched, yawning in satisfaction. Her dreams again had her feeling weird. She had absolutely no idea why her dreaming was so fixated on Bart Simpson. Her last dream had both him and her staying at a luxurious hotel in Capitol City, they had a dinner, they danced and then they slipped off to their room where…

Alex turned to the bed she was in and froze in horror.

There, wearing nothing but his boxers, was Bart.

Alex quickly rubbed her eyes to make sure she still wasn't dreaming and still saw Bart there.

Alex made a yelp when she heard him grunt and then sit up and rub his eyes.

Then, there was a knock at the door and then it opened.

"Alex, since you don't come down until later, I decided to make breakfast for you and bring it up to the…" Lisa began until she saw the both of them in the room.

To Alex's embarrassment, she realized she was still wearing her night top and was in her underwear.

Bart rubbed his eyes and then looked at the pair of them. Quickly ascertaining the situation…

"Whoa! Lis, this is not what you think!"

Breakfast at the kitchen table had never been has uncomfortable as it was now. The three not looking at each other as they ate their meals.

Soon, Maggie walked in.

"Hey, Lis, hey Alex, hey Bart. Bart!"

Maggie rushed over and shook her brother, "Where the hell have you been!"

"Easy, Mags'." Bart groaned.

"I've been looking all over town for you! I went to your apartment, but the bell man said you hadn't been in all night!" She let got of him as Bart rubbed his eyes.

"I was out." He said.

Maggie sat at the table and grabbed her brother's arm, "What happened! Why Jessica!"

Bart could tell she knew what had happened between him and Jessica and he gave her "I'll-tell-you-later-don't-say-anything-right-now!" look.

Lisa looked at Bart, with a raised eyebrow. "What about Jessica?"

Bart closed and rubbed his eyes, "She called me last night, we went out and had a few drinks together."

Lisa leaned on the table, putting herself closer to Bart, "And?"

Bart shook his head, "Nothing after that. I put her into a cab and went around town."

Lisa sat back sighing, "I'm happy that was the extent of it."

Bart looked away, he really hated when he had to lie to his sisters, especially Lisa.

The rest of the day went as usual, Marge was ecstatic that all three of her children were home and begged Bart to have dinner. Bart caved, and the Simpson family, plus Alex, sat down later that evening at the table. Alex was still feeling uncomfortable with what happened in the morning to even look at Bart, let alone talk with him which the family was doing at the table. Everyone was talking with each other, well except for Maggie who was glaring at Bart from across the table.

"Maggie? What's wrong? You haven't touched your pasta." Marge asked as Maggie was constantly stirring her dish but not touching it.

"It's great, I love it." She said without looking at her mother, but continued to stare at Bart.

Lisa put a hand on her sister's, "Mags' what's wrong?"

Bart, who was eating quickly, glanced up from his plate.

Maggie noisily sighed out loud and slammed her fork against the plate.

"Bart, why? Of all the people, why her!"

"C'mon Maggie, they had some drinks that's it." Said Lisa.

Maggie closed her eyes and gritted her teeth, "No, that's not it."

Alex coughed and then looked at Lisa, "Can you excuse me, Lis?"

Lisa nodded and then turned back to her sister, "What else happed?"

Alex went upstairs to the room just as she heard the shouting from Lisa rise up against her brother. She hated when Lisa and Bart fought with each other.

Twenty minutes passed and then there was a knock at the door. Alex had been reading a book to take away the tension that was downstairs.

"Come in." She replied.

Bart walked inside the room with the most glumist face she had ever seen.

"Sorry you had to hear that, Alex"

Bart sat down next to her on the bed and put his head between his legs and groaned.

"Did you sleep with her?" She asked sitting next to him and putting her book away.

Bart nodded. "I was depressed and drunk. Not the best of combinations."

Alex nodded.

"The worst part is that she's talking about it all over town and I have to see her at work tomorrow." Bart got up and started pacing.

Alex shrugged, "You could call in sick."

Bart laughed, "It's funny. I've always tried to find ways to avoid school and yet at work I've refused to call in sick."

Alex laughed too, she remembered the things Lisa and her found in Bart's room. 'Lil Bastard fake sickness' kits, forged doctor notes, fake hospital bills, and many more. Bart was the king when it came to brain scheming his way out of school. Now, he was having difficulty getting out of Jessica Lovejoy's hold.

Bart got up and stretched and picked up his things, "Well, like it or not, I'm going to have to talk with Jessica, tomorrow."

Before Alex could say anything, Bart left the room.

Hearing the taxi pull away, Alex stared out the window.

_Why, on earth,_ _are you attracted to him, Alex Lenore Whitney? _She asked herself.

Is it so easy to forget what he did to you that has been stuck with you for all these years?

Alex's mind raced back to five years ago… 

Springfield Isotope High School was alive and thriving. It was becoming impossible for Lisa, Alex, Janey, and Alison to find a parking place.

Alex laughed as Lisa gritted her teeth in frustration.

"Stupid Bart, why did he have to make such a big deal and invite everyone from town, for this?" She fumed.

Ten minutes later the four of them were inside and boy was it packed; not to mention nuts. People were either smashing some things or chasing other people.

"Wow! This is so awesome!" Exclaimed Janey.

The four of them split off and started dancing away to Spinal Tap's hard edged sounds.

Alex was slamming away until someone pushed her out of the way at full force.

"Get out of my way, _Fashion Queen_!" Gina fumed as she was charging away from the crowd.

Alex starred daggers at the girl. She was about to retort when Alison grabbed her arm.

"It's not worth it Alex. It's best to stay away all the same. Martin told me that Bart and her had a fight. She was accusing him of getting drunk and "handling" Sherri, Bart told her to beat it. I think they're on a break or breaking up. I'm not sure which one."

Alex withdrew her stance and continued dancing with her friends. Only up until Malcome, Milhouse, and Martin dragged away Lisa, Janey, and Alison to the dance floor. At this time, with the huge amounts of people crowding the room, Alex felt her once in a while claustrophobia kick in and she quickly made for the opened fire exit for some fresh air.

Going outside, she heard a familiar voice.

"Gee, Lisa's brother, it's funny you're drinking because my Dad says only stupid teens drink, when I tell him you'll all get in trouble."

Ralph Wiggum.

Ralph was standing there, five foot eight, wearing baggy pants, a "Can't touch this" McHammer T-shirt, and spiked hair, looking at three teens in a dark alley.

As Alex had expected, Bart was there in his leather jacket, standing next to him were Richard and Nelson.

"Don't have a temper tantrum, cry baby, your dad got kicked off the force for obstructing evidence, he can't do anything." Said Nelson.

Chief Wiggum got kicked of the force when, during a trial, he was caught admitting he was tapping over police footage of the late Hans Moleman getting run over by Willy's tractor, only to replace it with E! True Hollywood stories. Ralph, with his fierce sense of denial has refused to believe that his dad no longer works for the police force.

"Ha ha, you're funny Nelly Munch, see you guys later."

He then went back inside.

Nelson made a mock hurting gesture as the door closed and the boys continued passing around their bottle, which was in a brown paper bag.

Alex made a small cough, as the cold air hit her.

The three looked up at her.

First there was silence. Then…

"Haw haw! Look, men. It's _Fashion Queen!"_

Richard was too busy relieving himself next to the alley, Bart merely said, "Hey Alex, What up?"

Alex didn't hear him, she had turned away and back inside when she heard Nelson call her what she hated most in this stupid school.

The party was winding down and everyone was clearing out. The Principal warned that a riot control wagon would be called if ANYONE were still there later than eleven o' clock.

Alex hung backstage while waiting for Lisa to stop kissing Malcolm and say goodbye already.

Suddenly, a hand came through the curtains and grabbed her arm.

She shrieked, and in came Bart Simpson, with his jacket slung over his shoulder.

"Need a lift?"

Alex shook her head, "I'm riding with your sister, besides, I don't want to ride with anyone whose been drinking."

Bart laughed, "I only had one, maybe two drinks. I'm really a light weight and don't want to face mom's wrath when I get home."

Alex studied him for a second, "Alison told me that Martin told her that Gina was pissed at you for getting drunk."

Bart shook his head, "I only told her that I was drunk so she would go away. She's been a royal pain in the ass lately, being controlling." Bart sighed, "Sometimes I'm not sure what to make of us…Sometimes…"

He then took Alex's hand into his and smiled into her eyes.

"Sometimes, I wonder what life could've been if I had been dating a normal, healthy, girl…like you."

Alex's mouth fell open and she looked away.

_What was he saying? Did he…Did he really like her?_

Then, without warning, He kissed her.

Her eyes darted back to him. She noticed his eyes were closed. Bart withdrew and took her other hand into his.

"You're an amazing person, Alex. I wish I could've seen that before. I bet I'm just saying this to myself, but, I wanted you to know."

Bart then went back through the curtain.

Alex stood there and placed two trembling fingers to her lips. She closed her eyes, took a deep intake of breath, and then rushed through the curtains and said aloud:

"Bart! Wait! I really like you!"

Milhouse, Nelson, Richard, Sherri, and Terri were on the floor laughing. Alex looked beyond them and saw Bart and Gina walking out the exit holding hands.

Tears came to her instantly and she turned around and went past Lisa and Malcolm and ran for the exit to the car. She had been crying in that car until Lisa had came back.

Alex, still looking outside the Simpson's window as the sun was going down, remembered when she disclosed that info on to Lisa.

Lisa.

Lisa had helped her through High School and through that moment better than anyone else in her life could have. For that she was eternally grateful. Standing there in solace, she told herself that these dreams of her and Bart were a flight back to that particular moment, where she was trapped. Bart Simpson was and always will be Bart Simpson, at least to her.

As she dismissed herself from the window one last, lingering thought got into her mind.

Unless something proves otherwise.

_A/N: Well, My sincerest apologies to my fans of my story who were waiting for this. I hate how long CompuTech people take on a damn laptop. Anyways, I'm working on the fourth installment right now, so expect to see it soon._

_Q-n-P_


	4. The Women

As Bart Simpson went into his office building, he was troubled by what had transpired the night before at his parents place. Never in his life had he ever intended on hurting Lisa, the way he did. Today, he was going to set things right and hopefully it would go well. Going inside his door he, suprisingly found the waiting room to be vacant. Jessica-free. He found a note on his door from his colleague, Skylar Farris, that she had called in sick.

_Damn. _He thought. Bart really had hoped he could bring this all to an end. Tomorrow would have to be it then.

Opening the door to his office, he was struck with another surprise, his office wasn't unoccupied.

"I'll be damned…Laura Powers?"

Chapter 4: The Women

Bart was amazed by what he was seeing. The girl he fell for seventeen years ago, who dropped out of high School when her mother was busted for illegal steroid use and was never heard from again, sitting right here in his office. Her long auburn hair, still shoulder-length, and her eyes still a piercing hazel color. She wasn't alone, though. Sitting in her lap, asleep, was a baby-girl. Laura's bad-girl image never escaped her adult years, dressed in Levi's and a black leather jacket, Bart felt like she was trying to pull off a Dark Angel's Jessica Alba, image.

Laura both starred and smiled as Bart went around her and sat at the opposite end of his desk.

Bart smiled as he looked at her, her older years have not taken away what he had seen when he was ten years old, she was still beautiful.

"Wow, little Bart Simpson, a big-shot lawyer now. Until I saw your ad in the yellow pages, I never would've guessed." She said smiling.

Bart grinned, "Neither would I. I take a look in the mirror each and every day and am surprised each and ever time. What's happened with you?"

Laura sighed, "Well, after dropping out, I did a little volunteer work at the Springfield Home Health Center, mainly organizing paper work and doing a little computer work, I also did a little waitressing on the side."

Bart nodded, "Most of us guessed you joined a rock band, or something. What's going on with you now?"

Laura shrugged, "Well, about two years ago, a friend of mine got me interested in real estate. I took some classes at the Civic Center in downtown Shelbyville and got my license. I met my husband through a sale and then a year ago we had little Gloria." She smiled at the little thing rested in her lap.

Bart smiled as the girl clutched her mother's shirt as she dreamed.

"So, what has you come to see me?" Bart asked, "Or was this a drop by visit?"

Laura shook her head. "No, it isn't. Don't get me wrong, I did want to see you again, but, my real reason for being here is my lousy cheating husband."

Lisa, Alex, and Maggie were in downtown East Springfield, looking at properties. Early, that day, Alex suggested the three of them get out of the house, seeing as how Lisa and Maggie were still in bitter moods since two nights before with their fight with Bart. Walking through the district, they had found two buildings that met both the space and the region of the district that would satisfy Alex's needs. They called up the realtor of the first property. He was there in a matter of minutes.

"Hi, Brian Ferguson, G.E.T Jyped Reality, which of you beautiful ladies are interested in this building?"

Alex raised her hand.

Mr. Ferguson took them through the entire place and to Alex it looked promising.

"How's the electricity?" Asked Lisa as she switched on a light switch.

"No! Wait!" Shouted Mr. Ferguson.

Suddenly, a huge amount of sparks emitted from the switch and a fire broke out.

Later, the three of them stood outside of the building as the fire department came back from clearing the electrical fire.

Lisa suggested that maybe the second one would be better, even though it was a little out of Alex's price range and was a three-story building.

Calling the office, she was disheartened to hear that not only the realtor was out but that someone else had made an offer on the property. Lisa reassured her that she may have a chance. They asked the office when the realtor would be available, they told her that she was in the area and said that they would contact her.

The three got a call from her and told them she would meet them in the Springfield courtyard.

In the Springfield Municipal Court, Bart was pacing back and forth in front of a witness who was on the stand in Nelson Muntz's case. The man before him was a Walter Feinzer who claimed that Nelson aggravated the plaintiff to strike back at Nelson.

Bart cleared his throat, "So, let's get this straight, Mr. Feinzer. You're not only telling me, but you're also telling this court, that you not only saw Nelson start this fight, but that you weren't drinking at this bar on dollar night?"

The man looked side to side then nodded.

Bart went back to his table and produced a paper, "Your Honor, defense's exhibit "A", Mr. Feinzer, do you recognize this?"

The man took the paper and reluctantly nodded.

Bart waived the paper towards the Jury box, "This is a police report that Mr. Feinzer was arrested the same night for public urination at the Springfield Mall, having a blood alcohol content of 1.1. Mr. Feinzer, does this sound like a person who didn't drink that night? Besides perjuring yourself, is there anything true to what you saw that night?"

Mr. Feinzer closed his eyes and shook his head.

The Judge had the bailiffs' escort Mr. Feinzer out of the courtroom.

"Does the Plaintiff have any other witnesses?" Asked the Judge.

The Lawyer shook his head.

"Then the court dismisses the Jury to deliberate and await their decision as we have a two hour recess." The Judge banged his gavel.

During the break, Bart was outside the courthouse eating a quick snack. Slurping on his blueberry Squishee, he looked up as he saw Laura, minus her baby, walk up to him.

"Wow, Bart. You're pretty impressive in there."

Bart smiled, "Well, I get this job right sometimes."

Laura smiled as she crossed her arms, "C'mon, don't be modest. You're a great lawyer. And, I think, It'll be very good for me to have you represent me in my custody battle against my husband."

A man approached Bart.

"Excuse me, Mr. Simpson, they're about to start again."

Bart nodded and excused himself from Laura and went back inside the courthouse.

When Bart arrived, the Judge nodded the Jury Foreman who raised the paper he was holding up high.

"Mr. Foreman, would you care to read the verdict?"

The Foreman nodded, "Yes, your honor, in the matter of the case _Cecil Terwilleger Vs. Nelson Muntz_ we hearby rule in favor of Mr. Muntz.

Nelson pointed at Cecil and shouted, "Haw haw! You lost, dingle-berry."

The judge dismissed everyone and Nelson turned to Bart.

"Good job, Simpson, there were times there I was worried."

Bart shrugged, "Eh, those come and go. Maybe sometime you and I can get a drink to celebrate?"

Nelson nodded, "Maybe, anyway, smell you later, Simpson."

Nelson then left Bart, while Bart put his papers into his brief case. Walking out, he, again, was approached by Laura.

"Hey." She said.

"Hey." He returned.

"Do you want to get some…" She didn't finish as she clutched her side and drew out a buzzing pager.

"Damn." She said loudly. She turned back to Bart, "Sorry, Bart, but, do you think we could maybe have some coffee later?"

Bart nodded, "How about you meet me at the Jazz Hole in, say, three hours? I need to go home and take a shower, those courts aren't well ventilated."

Laura nodded, and the two of them went their separate ways.

Alex and Lisa were the only ones waiting for the realtor. Maggie had to leave for a Jazz Step class. Sitting there, they waited for thirty minutes until a woman showed up with a black business suit.

Lisa recognized her immediately.

"Laura? Laura Powers?"

Laura took a step back in surprise, "Wow, Lisa? Boy, this is an odd string of re-occurrences."

Sitting down with them Lisa introduced Laura to Alex and the two discussed the building Alex was interested in. Laura told Alex that if she wanted to best the offer, she might consider getting a loan. Alex had expected this, she felt a little disappointed but she was confident that she could still get the property. The rest of the time was spent of Lisa and Laura reminiscing about the time when Laura babysat her and Bart the night when Moe came and attacked Laura's then short-term boyfriend Jimbo Jones at the Simpson's house.

When they had finished their lattes, Lisa asked Laura, "So, Laura, what've you been up to lately?"

Laura told them about what happened when she dropped out of High School and her job struggles, up to her divorce with her husband.

"I've been talking with your brother about handling my custody battle against my jerk of a an ex-husband. I don't want my daughter being raised by him and his bimbo."

Lisa sighed, "So, you've seen Bart, huh?"

Laura was surprised by Lisa's take on the news of her brother. Lisa explained about the latest feud that they had.

"So, little Miss Perfect, has come back to Springfield. My Mom use to call her the child version of what my Dad's fantasies."

After saying goodbye, Alex sighed and shook her head, "Wow."

Lisa looked at Alex in surprise, seeing as how she was really quiet during their meet with Laura. The conversation consisted mostly of Lisa catching up with Laura.

"Is everything alright, Alex?"

Alex shook her head in awe, "I'm still finding out more and more about your brother that surprises me. In High School, I had painted him as an entirely different person. Learning more and more about him, it's like he's a complete stranger."

Bart was feeling very good today. He won another case and had met a woman he hadn't seen in over thirteen years. He was feeling so good, in fact, that it didn't bum him out that Laura called to cancel the meet they had planned. Looking at his clock, sitting inside "Jimbo's", he realized it was probably a good time to head for home. Taking a cab, he reached his home in a matter of minutes, going up to his floor he was welcomed with an all to familiar smell...the smell of the lilac. Low and behold, there, standing next to his door puffing on a menthol cigarette, was Jessica.

Bart felt his heart pounding as his mind raced with how to approach this ordeal.

Jessica looked up, and gave a seductive grin. She extinguished her smoke, and walked up to him.

Bart felt his whole body go stiff as she fingered her hands up his shoulder up and around his neck.

She then leaned close to his left ear and whispered:

_I've missed you, Bart Simpson. Want to have some fun?_

Bart closed his eyes and then reopened them.

"No, Jessica, I can't. I've had a really busy day and really want to go to bed. So, good night." He really didn't have the energy to talk to this woman.

Jessica shrugged and left and then said over her shoulder, "Don't think you can escape me, Bart. After all, I know where you live and work. Bye."

Bart shuddered after hearing her say that.

He went inside his home and heaved a loud sigh. He then looked at his answering machine and noticed he had two messages.

Pressing the first one:

_Bart? Hi, this is Laura. I was wondering when I could get together with you to talk about my case. Hope you're doing well, Gloria says hi. See ya._

Bart shrugged and made a mental note to call her. Then the second message came on:

_Hi Bart, it's Gina. Long time no hear, huh? I know you don't really want to be hearing me, but I really wanted to call you. I'm out of jail, work release, actually, and I really would like to see you again. I'm ok, if you don't want me as your girlfriend anymore_ _but I couldn't bear not to have you in my life at all. I need you Bart Simpson. I'll see if I can see you at a break tomorrow, take care huh? Bye._

A/N: It gets more dramatic, huh? Albeit, it's a little short, but after having to wait for my damn laptop to get fixed, I decided I didn't want you guys to wait longer than you had before. I'm about one-fourth into the next chapter, so be patient and you guys will be rewarded! Hatcha! Let me know what you guys think of the series thus far.

Q-n-P


	5. Faded Memories

It was a cool, dark, and starry night and Alex was enjoying it, a lot. She had decided to slip out of the house when Marge's sisters had came over to visit. Those two, for some reason, had always made Alex feel really uncomfortable. She remembered when Lisa told her about how she both sympathized and tolerated her Aunt Selma, while her aunt Patty, she just regarded. Telling Alex all about her and her brother's experiences from their encounters/visits with them. Alex was a little mortified when hearing some of those tales.

Walking along Evergreen Terrace's road, she paused as the crosswalk sign had turned to a red hand. She looked around and tilted her head back and inhaled deeply. She felt like she needed to do this more often. After quitting smoking so many years ago, Alex has always enjoyed doing these things at night. Springfield's air was more clean and crisper than Los Angeles, well, at least to her it was. She was just about to cross the street when she caught a familiar glimpse of a man walking down the opposite road and sitting down in a bus stop bench. She recognized him.

Milhouse Van Houten.

At first she wanted to keep going in the direction she was in, but she decided to go and catch up for old time sakes. After all, she survived her reencounter with Nelson Muntz, this was a step lower than that.

Walking over she noticed Milhouse was looking really anxious, and frequently looking at his watch.

"Hi, Milhouse." Alex greeted.

Milhouse looked up, startled, and then got his composer back and looked at her curiously.

"Uh, hi. Who are you?"

Alex smiled, Nelson had a head injury and he could still identify her. Milhouse was always slow on the ball.

"It's Alex. Alex Whitney. You remember. The one you used to call "_Fashion Queen_"."

Milhouse's eyes widened as he came to realize who was standing before him. He then gloomily looked down at the ground.

"Sorry I did that. I must've been a real jerk back then, huh?" Alex shrugged, "Well, you and every other kid at that school."

Milhouse nodded, he then looked at his watch and muttered something.

Alex sat down next to him on the bench, "So, what's happened to Milhouse, over these years?"

Milhouse sighed, "Well, I'm working at the Nuclear Plant. Plus, me and my wife are having a baby."

Now it was Alex's turn to be surprised.

Milhouse told her of everything that Bart did, in his ways of saying thank you to Milhouse for helping him post-Gina.

Alex looked away and shook her head.

She looked back when Milhouse looked at his watch and then yelled, "WHERE'S THAT DAMN BUS!?"

She put a hand on his shoulder, "What's wrong?"

Milhouse took a deep breath and said slowly, "…Bart…Bart's in trouble."

Alex was going to inquire of what kind of trouble he was in, but then seeing the look on Milhouse's face and remembering what Lisa told her, the first day she spent at the Simpson's House in such a long time; she fully understood what Milhouse meant.

"Milhouse, you should call his family."

Milhouse glared at her; "He called me. Told me not to call them. Saying he wanted to see a friend. See someone he can trust. The first time this happened, his Mom said if it'd ever happen again, she would have him sent to a hospital. I can't let that happen to him Alex. Lisa would tell her Mom."

The bus finally came and Milhouse mumbled a quick "good bye".

Alex thought for a moment, then jumped on the bus with him.

"I'll go with you." She said as she sat next to him.

Chapter 5: Faded Memories

In Bart's apartment, which was usually warm and sort of cheery, was now bleak, cold, and dark. A ceiling light swung in the throes of the apartment's air conditioning. Shadows loom in every corner, the building across the street; it's light giving little voice to the dark room.

Bart lay huddled in a corner of the room. Lying on the floor with a bottle of Jose Cuervo resting between thighs, the only other thing in his lap was the answering machine. Bart's half-inebriated gaze looked from it to the door and back to it.

Thoughts were racing through his liquor-soaked mind.

Those bitches are out to get me, but I've got the drop on them…heh, yes I do…" There was a knock at his door and Bart stood rigid. "Uh, Bart?" Even though drunk, Bart knew the voice. "Milhouse…get…get in here…man." Bart feebly replied. The door creaked open and in stepped Milhouse who paused, then turned behind him and nodded. Bart cocked an eyebrow, as wondering what his best friend was doing. Then in stepped Alex. Bart stood up so fast that he almost fell over. "What's she doing here, Milhouse?" Bart growled. Milhouse looked worried. Alex sighed, "Bart, why do you do this to yourself? You're going to give your sister a heart attack by doing these things to yourself." Bart took a swig of his bottle and pointed at Milhouse. "Some friend you are, I tell you and ONLY you to come. What do you do? Bring my sister's best friend. She's going to rat me out to my mother and then I'll be in the crazy house tonight. God Dammit, Milhouse! Why do you have to be so friggin' stupid, huh? I'm hoping for Samantha's sake you don't pass it along to your bab--" Bart never got the last word out as Alex slapped him rigorously across the face. Bart looked back with tears in his eyes, rubbing the side of his face, "What the hell?" She hit him again. "Owww! Quit it quit it quit it!" He yelled as she lay some more on him. She then went to the kitchen and turned on the lights in there. Bart shielded his eyes as she got a pitcher and quickly filled it with water. When it was full she got back into the living room and poured it on Bart's head. 

Looking around the room, she sighed and turned back to Bart.

"Bart, is there a gun, here?"

Bart, still rubbing his face, shook his head, "No, no gun. Now get out, the both of you!"

Alex gave one last, hard, final slap. Bart fell back a little and groaned loud.

"You need to quit being an ass right now and sober up, Bart." She said, "First off, Milhouse didn't invite me, I made him bring me here." Bart looked at her with blood-shot eyes, "Why?" 

Alex turned away as she spoke, "I have my reasons."

Alex and Milhouse cleaned the apartment and also dispose of the alcohol within the house Bart sat in a chair rubbing his head, the quickness of alcohol-poisoning getting to him. Alex told him to take a shower just as the sun was rising. She called his work to let them know he wasn't feeling well and that he wouldn't be in for today.

A few hours later, Milhouse said he was going to work and asked Alex if she was ok looking after him.

"I'll be fine." She said, "I'll call you if anything happens, ok?"

Milhouse nodded, yawned, and then said good bye to Bart, and then slipped out the door.

Alex made some coffee for her and for Bart and the two sat at his table, Bart still rubbing his head.

Alex took a sip of her coffee and then went into the kitchen to make some breakfast.

"I'm sorry."

Alex turned, surprised, seeing as how Bart hadn't said anything for the past five hours.

"I'm sorry to both of you." He said.

Alex smiled. "You're right. You and Alcohol don't mix very well, huh?"

Bart nodded.

Alex brought them some steaming oatmeal and then sat down across from Bart.

"Bart, why did you do this to yourself?"

Bart sighed as he stirred his meal to make it cool, "I got a call from Gina last night."

Alex's eyes widened. "I thought she was in jail."

Bart nodded, "She was, she got released for work. She left a message that she was planning on seeing me today."

Alex now understood why Bart acted the way he did, but she couldn't help but feel that there was more to this.

"Was that it?" She asked.

Bart shook his head and sighed, "No. Before I got that message, Jessica was here, waiting for me."

Bart got up from the table and went into the kitchen and popped open a bottle of aspirin and got some OJ from the fridge. After guzzling it down, he continued.

"I managed to breakaway from one unhealthy person in my life, and then fall into a person who is even worse. Now, the first person is making their way back to me." He sighed. "I just don't know what I'm supposed to do about this."

Alex shrugged and took another sip of her coffee and then daintily wiped her mouth, "Well, you could just tell Jessica to "Get Bent" as you've told other girls when you were dating Gina, and Gina, you can tell her that you're not ready to see her yet."

Bart gave a quiet laugh, "You make it sound so easy."

Alex gave Bart a grin; "You make it sound so hard. Believe me, it's not."

Bart sat back at the table and the two started eating the oatmeal.

When they were finished, Bart looked at Alex and smiled.

Alex, again, blushed a little. "Bart, quit looking at me like that."

Bart shrugged, "Can't help it. I'm amazed by who and what you are."

Alex turned away and said morosely, "You don't mean that."

She then got up and got her jacket and walked to the door and turned to Bart, "Call me if you need to talk or if you feel you want to escape to this negative place, again. I'm here to help."

Bart watched as she left thinking to himself:

What does she mean by "You don't mean that"? 

Lisa was waiting at the kitchen table when Alex walked through the door.

"Where've you been! I was getting worried, when I went to your room and found it empty. Is everything ok?"

Alex nodded, "Just went out for a late walk and it went longer than it should have." She lied.

Soon the girls watched as Homer was about to leave the house when Marge stopped him. Homer was wearing nothing but his tighty-white-ies.

"But Marge, its casual Friday, at the plant."

While Marge was explaining Homer of the details of the phrase, Maggie came into the kitchen and sat down with the three of them.

"Oh, God. May we never have to see their slideshows ever again." Said Maggie, shuddering. Maggie still seemed to be in the aftermath of witnessing her aunts' photos of their various trips with their lovers.

"There are still times when I'm amazed that he can tolerate living with her. That and having us to refer to him as "Uncle Van Horn".

Selma, who's married half of the male population in the Springfield phone book, finally caught a break when she went onto an online dating site and met up with a man who was sensitive whom she talked with day and night. That man was Melvin Van Horn, Krusty the Clown's sidekick. A year and a half and they were married, had two children, and now were expecting their third. Alex had always thought it funny that she has now married two of Krusty's sidekicks.

The three spent the entire day aloof around the house, basically not doing anything. Cartoon Network was showing some syndicated showings of Itchy and Scratchy, which the three watched for four hours until getting bored by the second season's worth. At four in the afternoon, Alex had to go to see her Loan advisor to see about getting that down payment to get that building she wanted. It made her tired thinking about it.

Looking at her watch she decided she needed to go and her and Lisa left.

Bart took a nap after Alex had left and was feeling remotely better. He then looked at his calendar and quickly remembered that he was supposed to meet Laura Powers for coffee at five.

Getting into a cab he was there within minutes. Laura was already inside, her daughter Gloria sitting right next to her doodling on some placemat.

"Hey, Laura." He greeted.

"Hey, Bart." She returned.

Bart sat down across from them and ordered a decaf.

"Looks like some one had a interesting night."

Bart realized he failed to make his hair look presentable.

"Yeah. So, let's talk about your case."

The two of them spent half an hour discussing about the legal grounds and the strong points Laura had and what her ex-husband had in the matter of Gloria.

"Is there anything I should know that maybe brought up that we can quickly counter?" Bart asked as he finished his second cup.

Laura sighed, "Well, for awhile I was on anti-depressants. My father got killed in a hit and run and it was with me for a long time until I sought help."

Bart nodded. "Anything else?"

Laura shook her head, "Nope. None that I can think of."

Bart nodded. The two then spent the rest of the time talking about the movies they had watched and other frivolous things.

Bart soon left them and had taken a cab back to his place.

He turned on his Palm-Pilot and wrote down some quick notes on the day and then called and ordered pizza. After placing the order, he stared at the phone in his hands.

_Should I call her? _ He asked himself. Through the sit-down with Laura, he had constantly thought about calling Alex. Why, he didn't know. He did want to thank her, again, for helping him for that embarrassing moment, but then, what she had said before she had left, rang in his ears. That was troubling him the most. He still, for the life of him, couldn't

Understand what she had meant by "You don't mean that". Looking back, had he ever gave her any reason that what he said wasn't true? That anything he said was just for the sake of spilling out some words? Bart really didn't have the answers to this.

Still staring at the phone, he closed his eyes and sighed. As uncomfortable as it might be, he did know who would have the answer to this.

Bart then dialed on his phone. There was a pause as it rang and then it was answered.

"Hey, Lis. Can we talk?"

Maggie heaved a sigh as the day was drawing to a close. After rescuing some dumb kid who had ran, then slipped, into the deep end of the pool, she was happy that her workday was ending. She, and another lifeguard named Ryan, blew their whistles and announced that the pool was closing. In a matter of minutes everyone was out. Maggie drew in the buoys that separated the lap areas and was just about to get ready to skim the check the chlorine levels when she was tapped on the shoulder.

Turning around, she was met by a grinning face. The person who had this smile was tall, black haired, which was featured with purple highlighted streaks, athletic, and was wearing a casual blue jeans and low cut white shirt.

"Hey, Maggs'." The woman said, still smiling.

Maggie, warmly, embraced her.

"Gina! Oh, my god, what're you doing here?"

Letting go of the hug, Gina and her went over to a nearby sitting area.

Gina sighed, "Well, I'm out of jail on work-release. I'm working as an assistant Mystery Shopper with my foster Mom over at the Heavenly Hills Mall, and have been seeing a shrink consistently."

Maggie nodded, still smiling. Gina and her have been good friends, ever since she had got adopted and had been dating her brother. In some cases they were like sisters. Gina, at one time, told her, that if Bart had ever popped "the question" to her, Maggie would be her Maid Of Honor.

Gina looked around, "Looks like you're still kicking ass at being the lifeguard around here, how've your dance classes been going?"

Maggie shrugged, "That blonde, wobbly-kneed, bitch, is still lead; but, I've been doing ok, regardless."

Gina nodded, closed her eyes and took in a deep breath, and said slowly, "So…how's your family, doing?"

"Good." Maggie replied.

"Is your Sister still in Washington?"

Maggie shook her head, "Nope. She's come back home, to stay a few weeks."

"Oh." Gina said, surprised. She then looked away.

"How about Bart?"

Maggie knew this was her reason for seeing her, but why go to her first, she didn't know.

"He's…He's ok." She stumbled.

Gina smiled and patted Maggie's hand.

"Tell me, what's happened."

Maggie told her everything there was to tell about Jessica Lovejoy.

When she had finished, Gina looked sad and distant.

"I'm sorry, Maggie. I'm sorry I wasn't able to be a better girlfriend to Bart. Now I'm sorry that because of my hurting him again it has led to this woman wrecking his life, more so."

Maggie shrugged, "You're getting better though, right? Perhaps, you can kick this little whore out of his life and the two of you can try to get back together again."

Gina looked down and sighed, herself. "I don't know, Maggs. I could help try to steer your brother away from Jessica, but as far as the both of us getting back together, I don't know. I've hurt him, Maggie. Really bad. I'm not sure he would even let me see him, let alone date him again."

Maggie looked down, thinking intently. "Well, it's worth a try at least, right? As long as Jessica stays out of his life, he may see the light along the way."

Gina smiled and hugged Maggie, "We'll see. So tell me, how've you and Gerald been?"

Maggie told Gina that it would be nice if the two of them visited Bart in his office. She was reluctant, at first, but then agreed that if Bart saw her with another member of his family he would be in a better position to talk, rather than dismiss quickly.

Taking a cab they arrived to Bart's building within a few minutes. Gina told Maggie along the way about how her therapy has been going and how her doctor was saying her progress has been going quite well.

Taking the elevator, the two had just reached Bart's floor when they heard someone yelling.

About three doors down from Bart's office, Skylar Farris was, in turn yelling at the person in his office.

"I've told you a thousand times, I don't know where he is!"

"Liar! Your secretary told me that he called your office letting YOU know that he wasn't coming in to work today." Said the other person.

Maggie quickly identified the voice. She leaned over to Gina.

"That's Jessica Lovejoy."

Gina was getting irritated by how this woman was treating Skylar. Skylar had always been nice to her and he used to go on double dates with her and Bart and his girlfriend Tammy.

Walking close to the room, the two got a glimpse of Jessica grabbing Skylar's tie and bringing his face close to hers.

"Listen, you jerk! I know you're hiding him or hiding the knowledge on where he can be reached. I do not like to be played a fool and…Maggie!"

Her attention came to the doorway where the two girls had been standing.

Jessica, quickly, brushed her hair back and acted as if what happened before was nothing more than a faux pas (An embarrassing mistake).

"Maggie, do you know where your brother is?" Jessica was trying her best to be non-chalant.

Maggie crossed her arms in contempt, "No, Jessica, I can't say that I have."

Jessica turned her head away in disappointment. She then turned to the woman standing next to Maggie.

"Who are you?"

Gina, at first, glared at her, then closed her eyes and took a deep breath, "I'm Gina."

Jessica took a step back and then bared her teeth.

"So, this is "Gina"." She then walked forward and shoved Gina, "Make sure you take this down, Bart and you are no more. He's mine. Back off." Jessica then strode past her and left.

Maggie looked at Gina, who was staring in the direction that Jessica had gone.

"What a bitch." Said Gina.

Maggie turned her attention back to Skylar.

"Have you seen my brother?"

Skylar shook his head, "A woman called around seven in the morning saying Bart wasn't coming to work today, said he was feeling ill."

Maggie thought long and hard, but still couldn't come up with an answer on who it was.

Bart sat right across from his sister in the Krusty Burger restaurant. Lisa agreed to meet with him and establish peace between the two of them here. The two had spent thirty minutes agreeing what should have been said and what needed to be said during the past days. They took a break from talking as their orders came to their table.

While Bart munched down on his fries, Lisa dined on Krusty's Brutos salad with Cesar dressing. Bart was half way done with his meal when Lisa spoke.

"Bart, I want to thank you for doing this. I'm sorry I overreacted the way I did. After all, I was there the first time Jessica did this to you."

Bart grinned, "My little Sister, always there for me. You don't need to apologize, Lis. We've always had each other's backs and we've always screwed up a number of times. It's cool."

Lisa smiled and then returned to her salad.

When they were finished Bart sighed in satisfaction and then put his hand on Lisa's.

"Lisa, I have a weird question to ask you."

Lisa straightened as she set her fork down. "What is it?"

Bart looked away and then told Lisa about what had happened the other night and how Alex and Milhouse came to his rescue. He then finished up to the point where he told Alex that she was "Amazing".

"Then she replied, very gloomily, "You don't mean that". What does she mean by that?"

Lisa sighed and looked out the window.

"Bart…Do you remember that time when you threw that concert at the High School, and Gina got angry with you for drinking?"

Bart looked down at the table, thinking. He then looked up and nodded.

Lisa looked into her brother's eyes; "Do you remember what you told Alex when the concert ended?"

Bart shook his head.

"Well, you lied to her about not being drunk and then told her that you were getting bored with Gina and wanted to be with someone like her, then…" She looked away.

Bart tightened his hold on her hand.

"Then what?"

She looked back at him with a sad expression. "You kissed her."

Bart took his hand off and stared at his sister. "I what?"

"She then called out to you saying that she really liked you and saw you walking away with Gina." Lisa ended.

Bart leaned his head onto his hand, every thought scrambling for that lost memory, still coming up empty.

"You don't remember, do you?" Lisa said.

Bart shook his head.

Lisa sighed, "Well, you did drink a lot that night."

Bart wearily shook his head, "I can't believe it."

Lisa grabbed her brother's hand and patted it.

"Bart, why are you worrying about this so much, Alex isn't scarred for life."

Bart looked into his sister's eyes.

"Lis…I think…I think I'm falling for Alex."

A/N: We'll all the pieces are on the board, now. I'm still in the mix about how they're going to play out. Big thanks to those who commented on these chapters and those who didn't, well, it's not too late to say what's awful or good about this.

A/N II: Hey, schmittiedude, I know that I've been bringing in a lot of people with in a short time, within the story, but hey man, it's all in the purpose of telling this story, so it all plays out nicely. Trust me, it's gonna be good.

A/N III: Chapter 6 will be up in maybe less than a week, so keep a look out.

Q-n-P


	6. The Reunion

Alex awoke the next morning with new thoughts.

She had finally secured the loan she had hoped for yesterday and was about to have a meeting today with Miss Powers. After the two-hour talk with Gil Rightman, she finally had the money needed to better the offer and hopefully the other party interested would not try to best her on it.

Getting dressed, Alex was just walking down the stairway when she heard Maggie's voice.

"C'mon, Lis, tell me why this would be such a bad idea."

Alex heard Lisa sigh and say, "You know why Maggie. Her coming over here would be very bad. Mom wouldn't allow it."

Alex sat down at the top of the stairs, something inside told her she needed to listen to this particular conversation.

"I can talk to her. Believe me. But, why are you so against the idea of it? I've told you she's changed and she wants to make up with everyone. Why are you so objectionable about it?" Maggie looked irritated.

Lisa sat down on the couch and put her hands against her head, "Because, she told him before she changed and it turned out she was lying. I'm sorry, Maggie, I don't trust her. I'm more worried how this is going to affect Bart."

Maggie sat down next to her and leaned forward, "There's more to this, isn't there? What's the REAL reason?"

Lisa put a hand on her sister's shoulder, "Look, I always try to be open-minded about a lot of things, but you got to understand why I don't like this, Maggie. Gina not only hurt Bart, but all of us. Bart's reaction to her getting out of jail and calling him was a relapse back to his dark days. I just thank Buddha that Milhouse and Alex were there to help him back up. It's not a good idea to have her come back to this family. She's…she's done enough damage."

Maggie grunted, then shook her head and then got up and faced Lisa.

"I'll tell you what. Why don't you come to lunch with us and after that, if you feel still strongly against her having dinner with the family, I won't suggest it anymore."

Lisa looked away.

"Please, Lis. At least do this for me."

Lisa heaved a big sigh and then nodded.

"Ok. I'll do it tomorrow. In the meantime, try to bring this onto Mom gently, and don't be surprised if she says "no"."

Maggie nodded and then promptly left the room.

Alex got up from where she was sitting and came downstairs.

Lisa hadn't heard her coming down and without looking in her direction went to the kitchen.

Alex followed her and approached her when she was going into the fridge.

"Hey Lisa?"

Lisa jumped and then turned around.

"Jeez, Alex! Don't do that. Phew. Wow, you're up and downstairs. How'd you sleep last night?"

Alex shrugged, "Pretty good, actually, considering I got that loan and am able to put a good bid on that property."

Lisa nodded and the two sat down at the table.

Alex watched her friend as she started spreading her butter across her toast, looking at it with sadness.

"Is everything ok, Lisa?" Alex asked.

Lisa didn't look up as she nodded, "Everything, except for Maggie wanting Gina to come over, is great."

Lisa told Alex what Maggie had planned and what Lisa thought about the whole thing and finally what was settled.

"I hate making Maggie mad about anything, but, when it comes to Gina…"

Alex nodded. Lisa didn't have that special bond like she had with Bart, but with Maggie she always tried to make her happy.

Just then, Homer came in with the mail.

"Lisa, honey, remember to remind Daddy to change our address again so the Repo-men won't steal our car."

Lisa smiled and nodded.

Homer thumbed through the mail and then took a letter out.

"You got some mail. It's from the Springfield High School. Please, tell me it's not another "Parent-Teacher Conference", again. I love you, sweety, but Daddy knows how smart you are, still."

Lisa laughed, "Dad, it's not that. I don't know what it is, actually."

Lisa opened the letter and read, " 'Dear Miss Simpson…Congratulations on making it this far…Tuesday, the fifth…High School Reunion?"

Alex shook her head, "Wow, it's been that long, huh?"

Lisa read the rest, " "Please do note that our metal detectors are out of order and that the handicapped parking spaces are where concessions are going to be sold. Yours truly, S.I.H.S Reunion Board." Huh."

Alex, then, frowned and looked at the calendar at the wall, "Lis, what's today?"

Lisa thought for a moment, and then went wide-eyed; "Today's the fifth!"

Alex pointed to the letter, "When was that sent?"

"It says on the letter head that it was typed up the seventh of last month. Dad! How long have you forgotten to pick up the mail?"

Homer wasn't listening, Marge was in the living room pointing at a letter and Homer quickly left the house and started up his car, and then was gone.

Chapter Six: The Reunion.

Bart was just eating his breakfast when he heard a knock at his door. Opening it, he was relieved to see it was Maggie.

"Wow, hey, Mags. How's it going?"

Maggie smiled, "Fine, actually."

Bart went back to the kitchen as Maggie walked in and she turned to look out the hallway and made in inaudible sound and then went into Bart's apartment.

"So, what has my little sis been up to?" Bart said as he went into his bedroom and closed the door.

Maggie stood there thumbing her fingers, nervously, still glancing towards the open doorway.

"Oh, nothing much. Say, Bart, um, what would you say if I told you I had a really big surprise for you, and I'd like to show it to you right away if you promised not to freak out?"

Bart, inside his room, putting on his pants, while removing his shirt, shrugged. "I don't know, what is it?"

Maggie heaved a loud sigh and turned back to the door and made an ushering grunt, followed by a hand moving gesture. "Come out and see."

Bart opened the bed room door.

"Maggie, don't tease, what is…"

Bart hardly got the last words out as he saw standing there, next to his sister, was Gina.

Bart froze and the pants, to which he forgot to hold onto, or button, fell down to his ankles, revealing his Krusty the Clown boxers.

"Gina…" Bart breathed.

Alex and Lisa drove into town to go to a local out fitters, to find something to wear for their High School Reunion.

"Alex, I still don't see why we're doing this, knowing everyone else in this town, everyone's probably going to dress really formal to this stupid thing, I still don't see why we should go. After all, you and I both hated High School."

Alex nodded as they were rummaging through some dress racks, everything having a ghastly shade of either puce or vermilion pink.

Alex shrugged, "I don't know, something tells me that we _should_ go. That going we'll finally give me, and by me I mean us, closure for those awful four years that we spent there. How does this look?"

Lisa laughed, "that would be nice if we were in seventeen-century France."

Alex threw her hands up, "That's it. I'm making our dresses."

Lisa shook her head, "No. I've told you all ready. This is insane, I'm not going."

Alex sighed, despairingly, "What if Malcome's going

To be there?"

"I haven't seen him in five years, that and he got married to Haley Abenshore, when I chose career over him. Trust me, I don't really have any reason for going there."

Alex looked to Lisa, "Well, what about Janey? Have you been in touch with her over the years?"

Lisa looked to the floor, sadly, "No, I haven't. Last I heard, she got pregnant and her mother kicked her out of the house and she moved to Shelbyville."

"Alison?"

Alison Taylor was Lisa's rival when she was in the second grade. Alison had been the only person who had bested Lisa in every thing Lisa thought to be her greatest accomplishments that separated her from everyone. After a huge ordeal that seemed to come from a childhood diary from Alfred Hitchcock, the two of them had become the best of friends.

"Well…I guess seeing her again will be enjoyable."

Alex grinned. She then bought three dresses to "correct" and make better.

They proceeded back to the Simpson household and Alex went right away to preparing their dresses for that evening.

Bart didn't know how long he was standing their until Maggie made a fake coughing gesture and pointed at Bart's pants and Bart quickly brought them back up.

Gina wasn't smiling, she was looking away.

Maggie gritted her teeth in apprehension. She wasn't entirely sure if this idea of hers was or was not a good idea. She had spent thirty minutes on the phone to get Gina to come over here and judging by how both her and Bart were reacting to seeing eachother again, this didn't seem like the best laid out plan she had come up with.

Bart went back to his room and got dressed up fully and then returned.

The three of them sat down at his breakfast nook and Bart brought out some coffee.

Gina looked around and said softly.

"Things haven't changed around here, huh?"

Bart nodded.

Maggie noticed that Bart made a little glare towards her than looked back at Gina as he made slow gulps of his coffee.

"So, how've you been? Maggie told me that you're working with your Mom, is it as boring as I remember?"

For the first time since she got here, Gina smiled and nodded.

"Part of the time, I want to escape her and do some real shopping, but I want to prove to her that I'm capable of doing something, so, I let it slide."

Bart, also smiling, set down his cup and shrugged, "I remember when we were thirteen and she had you go with her as a "go with you parent to work" day and you told the whole store who she was. Man, it took me half a week just to be able to let her let me talk to you on the phone, after that."

Maggie let out a sigh and drank her coffee. Bart and Gina quietly reminisced for an hour until Gina got up and announced she had to meet her mother soon.

Bart walked her to the door.

"I have to tell you, Gina, I was really nervous when you showed up here, but, I'm happy you and I got to talk, like this."

Gina smiled, "Yeah, me too. Do you think we can do this again some time? You know…Become friends, again? I don't want to push you away, Bart. I also don't want to force you to do anything, either."

Bart nodded, "It'd be great. Call my office sometime, ok?"

Gina in turn nodded and then left.

When the door closed, Bart turned to Maggie and narrowed his eyes.

Maggie rubbed her arm, knowing what was about to come out.

"Of all the people…Why did you pull this out on me, Maggie."

"Bart, look, I…"

"What were you thinking! You could have, at least, told me ahead of time that you were bringing her over!"

"I know, but…"

Bart went back to his room and fetched his tie and then came back out and got his jacket and briefcase.

"I'm going to be late for work, I'll talk to you later."

Bart then left Maggie and closed the door.

Marge was in the kitchen humming a Carpenters song when she heard the door close and in turn heard crying and rapid footsteps that went upstairs and into Lisa's bedroom.

Marge, who had developed a keen sense on whose cries were whose, recognized them as Maggie's. Dropping what she was doing, she went upstairs to find her youngest daughter, with her head buried in her older sister's pillow, crying.

"Maggie, what's wrong?" She asked, as she came in and sat down on the side of the bed, resting a hand on Maggie's shoulder.

"Why am I so stupid!" She blurted out.

"What do you mean?"

Maggie looked up at her mother with tear glazed-eyes.

"Me. Why did I have to go and make Bart angry with me?"

Marge sighed and put her hands on Maggie's shoulders.

"What happened?"

Maggie told her about bringing Gina to Bart's place and hoping that Bart would be over-joyed to seeing Gina, again; Only to yell at Maggie for doing it.

Marge shrugged, "No one said that you meant for Bart to be unhappy by doing this, but Maggie, you have to realize that Bart wasn't ready to see her yet. A lot has been going on and seeing her, right now, without asking him, is really sudden."

Maggie, brushing away a tear, "I know, but, I was hoping seeing her would have him realize that she's a hell of a lot better than Jessica, and that Gina makes him happy and maybe they might consider getting back together."

Again Marge sighed, "Honey, I know you're really fond of Gina, but Bart's a grown man, and he needs to make these decisions for himself. I know he knows you love him and you really want the best for him, but, bringing over Gina can't erase what's happened to the two of them for over the years, you know that. It's nice to hear that Bart's willing to be friends with her again, that you should be proud of. Bart took her coming over better than planned, but you doing this to him, so suddenly, wasn't helpful. He needed to do this on his own, not have his little sister do it for him, you see?"

Maggie nodded. She then sat up and looked down at the floor.

"How am I going to make this up to him?"

Marge patted her on the back, "Well, why don't you apologize and ask him that question."

Maggie smiled, kissed her mother on the cheek and said, "Thanks Mom."

Bart arrived to his office feeling incredibly glum. He hadn't had a fight like that with Maggie, since he was fourteen and he found out she had ripped up all his Play Dude magazines to make paper hats out of them.

Walking to his office, he saw another thing that made him uneasy.

"Good morning, Mr. Simpson. I've got your coffee and a copy of the Wallstreet Journal sitting on your desk, but before you get to enjoy them, might we have a word, in private?"

Jessica.

Bart, willingly, followed her into the office where she shut the door behind them.

She then turned around, "What the hell, have you've been doing, Bart!"

She walked up to him and grabbed him by the tie.

"Are you taking your "pet" out, everywhere? What was that skank doing with your sister, huh? Trying to throw me out of the picture?!"

Bart, casually, rolled his eyes, "Jessica, I have, absolutely, no idea on what you're talking about. Let go of me."

Jessica glared at him and then let go as she sighed out, loudly.

Sitting in the chair in front of his desk, she seemed to recompose herself better. She then got up, and with a sultry smile, made her way out.

"It doesn't matter. It's like I told that little tart; you're mine. Soon, all of Springfield will know it, and then, no one will be able to stop us."

Jessica happily whistled as she closed the door behind her.

_Not if I have anything to say about it. _Thought Bart.

Sitting at his desk, he was about to turn on his laptop, when his cell phone rang.

"Hello, Bart Simpson."

"Uh, Bart?"

Milhouse.

"Milhouse, ol'buddy, what's shakin'?"

"Nothin. How ya doin'?"

Bart shrugged, "Been better, but ok for now."

"Cool, cool, so, uh…"

Bart grinned. Milhouse had never been one to be good at holding anything back.

"Yo, Milhouse, what up?"

"Uh, Samantha wanted to know if you were free to help out at the High School, this afternoon. She's been asked to be part of the decorations committee. I'd like to help, but, your Dad's on the war path at work."

Bart remembered how Homer was planning on issuing a "Eat till you're like me" policy, in order to avoid the Health Commission to over look his own obesity.

"Sure, I'll be glad to help. When does she want me there?"

Jessica, listening in on the other end, put a hand to her mouth as she was thinking.

High School, huh…… 

The following afternoon, Lisa was in her room and Marge was attending to her hair.

"So, who's my little girl asking to her big High School Reunion?"

Lisa smiled, remembering, fondly, on how Marge wanted to be included on whatever happened with her family.

"Sorry, Mom, but, no one, this time. I'm just going to hang out with the girls."

Marge smiled as she added another can of hairspray to her daughter's hair.

Meanwhile, in Bart's room, Alex was looking herself in the mirror, feeling as if something weird was going to happen tonight.

She had talked with Laura Powers and the deal became official. She got the building she wanted. Her, Lisa, and Marge had a mini celebration followed by a quick dinner at the Singing Sirloin.

Looking at her dress, which was black, back laced, with the hem cut so it came a little above her left knee and then back down again, made her feel really good tonight.

Walking out of the room, she met Lisa, who was equally stunning in the white silk dress, Alex had made for her. The both of them made it look like they were going to some Hollywood Premiere party.

"Alex, I'm still not entirely sure about this. I mean, the dress is a dream, but, do you think everyone will be dressed up for this?"

Alex grinned, "I thought about that. I called up the School and the new Principal, Principal Warton, made out a memo to everyone that it was a fancy black tie-only special event. So, don't worry Lisa, I'm sure tonight is gonna be great."

Lisa didn't look totally convinced but murmured a confirmation.

Driving there, Alex laughed as they experienced the same ordeal, with Lisa, again, going on a rampage about the parking situation.

"At least you don't have your brother to blame for this one."

The comment made a sudden change in Lisa, it seemed to Alex.

When Lisa turned off the ignition, she sighed and looked to Alex, kind of sadly.

"Alex…about Bart. He…" Lisa looked at the steering wheel, as if trying to find the words there.

Alex put a hand don her friend's shoulders, "What about Bart?"

Lisa smiled and shook her head. "I'll tell you later. C'mon, let's see what a big waste of time this thing really is."

The two of them went into the building and saw everyone garbed in glorious tuxedos and dresses.

"Wow. This is something…wow." Lisa was stunned by how much her class had put into to make an appearance here.

Alex tapped Lisa on the shoulder and pointed to a young woman, standing over by the condiment stand.

"Is that Alison?"

The woman standing a few inches taller than Lisa, but not as much by Alex, was talking quietly to Samantha, who also had dressed for the evening.

Lisa nodded. The two then walked over to the concessions.

Alison brightened as she saw her two friends and promptly put down her cup and embraced the two of them, affectionately.

"Hi, you guys! How've the two of you been?"

Both gave a quick summary of their new adult lives. Alison told them of hers, how she's an assisting Professor at the Kennedy Space Center.

The three toured around the place for awhile until someone tapped Lisa on the shoulder.

Turning around Lisa was met face to face with a person she knew all to well.

"Hi, Lisa's brother, would you like to dance? I brought my helmet and shin pads like Daddy told me to."

Ralph Wiggum, who had barely managed to get his G.E.D had taken over the coveted spot of Janitor that the late Grounds-Keeper Willy had after Willy met an untimely end with a thresher in Farmer Ed's corn field, stood there with baggy pants and wearing a helmet. Getting into his early adult years, Ralph still had the over-bearing weight his father had and had lost all his hair but still had the peace-patch he had in High School.

Lisa giggled, nervously, but accepted the invitation out of respect.

Alex smiled as her friend went out on the dance floor and she and Alison quietly found themselves a place to where they could talk.

Bart had just returned from the delivery truck where he had gotten several cases of Buzz Cola and was putting it on the table when he had noticed Alex and Alison over by the bleachers.

He found himself frozen and unable to move.

She looked so beautiful tonight. Everything in the world seemed to have stopped in its place. He didn't even hear Samantha asking him a question.

"Bart?"

She then nudged him, which snapped him out of his trance.

"Oh, uh, sorry, Samantha. What is it?"

Samantha smiled, "Why don't you ask her to dance?"

Bart blushed, which was a first in a long time.

"What?"

Samantha gave him a little push, "Go ahead, I've got everything covered here."

Bart swallowed hard and took a deep breath.

_What am I doing? She's bound to say no, and she has every right to._

Bart then looked at her, and then, remembering what Lisa had told him of Alex's memory of that time, he decided he needed to change her impression of him.

_She deserves to see the real me._

Bart, then, walked right to her.

Talking with Alison, Alex suddenly, froze as she saw Bart Simpson walk directly toward her.

Alison looked to where she was looking and smiled.

"Wow, he's grown better than I thought."

Alex nodded. Bart was dressed even better than when she had first met him in his office. This was becoming even harder for her to loathe him. Over the past week and a half, she was finding she was beginning to like him a little better each and everytime.

Bart had stopped within five feet of them, nervously scratching the back of his head.

"Uh, Alex?"

Alex was surprised by his change of greeting; he seemed more guarded than he usually was.

"Yes, Bart?"

Bart coughed and made a nervous fidget.

"Would you…uh…that is…would you like to dance?"

Alex smiled, "Ok."

Bart exhaled deeply and then took her hand and the two of them went onto the dance floor.

The song "Time after time" played as the got there, which made the situation even harder for Bart.

Placing his right hand into lacing with her left made his body tremble.

Alex looked at him quizzically. "Bart, is everything, ok?"

Bart nodded and proceeded by placing his left hand down to the small of Alex's back.

Having it slowly slide down from the top of her back caused such an odd and, oddly enough, enticing feeling which made Alex blush.

The song was already three minutes into the chorus when they began stepping and Bart, then, seemed to relax a little more.

A lot of people were dancing and the broken disco ball was spinning at half the revolution it was supposed to do causing the faint small dots on the floor to shift every fifteen seconds. Nobody seemed to pay much attention to it.

Turning into another direction, Bart caught his sister's eye as she was trying her best to instruct Ralph that this was a more of a waltz dance than the robot. Lisa looked happy to see her brother and best friend dancing together and she smiled and made a quick wink.

Alex saw her too; Lisa gave the same notion before, which made Alex a little puzzled.

Alex sighed; she really didn't know what to think, now. She looked at Bart, his eyes at the moment seemed concentrated on his step making, until they came back up to meet with hers. She sniffed the air, and was happy to notice that both the air and Bart didn't reek of alcohol.

"You didn't drink tonight, that's good." She said.

Bart nodded, "After what happened that night I've signed up for some A.A. meetings and Milhouse has agreed to sponsor me. I can't thank you enough to catch me when I was falling so fast."

Alex was taken back by this information and the fact that Bart was regarding her with such reverence.

"I really didn't do anything, Bart. I just showed up and tried to help out, that's all."

Bart shook his head, "No, you did more than that. You showed up when most people wouldn't have. You didn't tell my family, which I greatly appreciate. It's very rare when I can find a confidence outside of Milhouse."

The song was coming to an end and before it did, Bart sighed and looked at Alex with absolute seriousness.

"Alex, there's something I want to get off my chest…" He then gave his most devilish-grin, "and believe me it's not you. I have a long over due apology and explanation."

Alex stopped dancing with him and took her arms off him.

"What is it?"

Bart closed his eyes as he breathed and then opened them and looked into Alex's deep almond colored eyes as he spoke.

"Nine years ago, in this very place, what I did was inexcusable and I hurt you very badly. I'm very sorry for having done it. I was young, stupid, and a drunk. You shouldn't have had that done to you by me. I'm sorry."

Alex felt as if the whole world had come to a screeching stop. Her mind absorbing slowly, like a dry sponge slowly placed into a bucket of water, what Bart had just said. The very Bart Simpson she had regarded as a person full of half-truths standing before her awaiting her forgiveness. Her mind was at war with her heart, contemplating weather or not this memory of hers was worth getting over and if Bart's apology was worth taking. She looked into his hazel-tinted eyes and then closed her own.

_I have a choice, now. Forgive and forget or live with and regret. What is the more sensible part?_

She then looked into his waiting eyes again.

_I'm done being miserable._

Alex then placed her hands around Bart's torso and hugged him.

"Apology accepted, Bart Simpson."

Bart felt more relaxed than ever and returned the embrace.

The two then danced the next song and the song after, then taking a break, shortly after.

Bart walked away to get them some punch, when Jessica stormed up and turned Alex around to face her.

"What the hell do you think you're doing with him, tinker-bitch!"

Alex's mind was racing to come up with either a courteous reply or a snide comeback.

Jessica looked her up and down and then laughed, "Wait a minute, why am I so worried? I mean, look at you. Bart obviously has been drinking heavily tonight, and thinks something as SMALL and CHUNKY as you is something it's not."

That did it. One of Alex's biggest buttons to push was to criticize her about her figure. But she really didn't have to do anything. Lisa, who had showed up just about the same time as Jessica had approached Alex, gave one-of-the-most hardest bitch slaps across the face.

"Get out of here, Jessica!" Lisa vented. She then raised a second hand to deliver another blow.

Jessica didn't wait around to receive it. Nelson, who was chaperoning the dance, escorted her out.

Bart had just came back as the commotion had died down, with two cups in his hands.

"What the hell happened here?"

Alex, who was still glaring after Jessica, jumped a little after hearing Bart.

"Oh, uh, nothing. Ralph was just getting picked on for a little bit until your sister stepped in and broke it up."

Bart looked to the direction of his sister and saw her with Samantha and Alison, wrapping her hand in a cloth with ice.

The rest of the reunion was short and soon wore out. Lisa's hand was pretty swollen but she claimed she was perfectly able to drive. Ralph made a try to ask her out but Lisa managed to convince him that she was married to the sea.

Bart and Alex slipped away and took a small walk from the High School down to by the water front.

"This has been a great reunion." Alex said, happily.

Bart laughed, "Better then mine was. I remember Milhouse getting drunk and basically hitting on every man, woman, and child. Had to talk the police man out of giving him a beating on the account of Milhouse telling the officer he had "Nice thighs"."

Alex laughed at this, too. This night has been so great, and the biggest high note she could say, is that, Bart was here to spend it with her. She was enjoying his company more and more as the minutes and planks rolled by as they walked. They kept walking until they were at the end of a long pier, which used to belong to Krusty the Clown when he faked death and became a scrap-metal dealer.

Sitting at the end of the dock, the stars casting their glow amongst the gray tinted sky caused by the Power Plant's pollution.

Her gaze was averted when she felt Bart's hand enclose hers.

She didn't blush, this time, only instead to look at Bart and smile.

She then turned her gaze away and sighed, "Bart…uh…there's something I've been meaning to ask you."

Bart looked at her with intrigue, "What?"

Alex swallowed, "When, back nine years ago, when you said those things to me…were you having problems with Gina and really did want someone like me?"

Bart closed his eyes and said slowly, "Actually…yes. Yes, I did."

Alex was surprised by the answer, "Why?"

Bart shrugged, "I was getting tired of my image. Bad boy, no goodnick, bad apple. All those things. I was even more tired of the fact that Gina wanted me to be that everyday. I wanted to be with someone wholesome yet exotic."

Alex blushed again, "Bart, I'm not exotic."

Bart grinned, "Yes you are. You were the girl in our school who looked beautiful everyday, wore the sexiest looking clothes and fought for the right to be able to wear them. Like my sister, you spoke your mind, a lot. You were everything a guy dreams of. You're the kind I dreamed of."

Bart turned away and sighed. "The kind I still dream of."

Then, and because why, Alex didn't know, She leaned over and put both hands on Bart Simpson's neck and kissed him.

To be Continued… 

A/N: Believe me, Jessica has only begun, and which girl will win? Who knows? Alex? Gina? Jessica? Who knows? I can't tell you now, but wait and see and thall shall be rewarded!

A/N II: Big props go out to those who've reviewed. Those who haven't…Do it man! C'mon, do it! Do it! Do it! Ha!

Q-n-P


	7. Warnings

Lisa Simpson decided half an hour ago to go looking for Alex. The Reunion had ended awhile before and Alex was nowhere to be seen at the car. She wasn't really worried; she was told that Alex had been walking with Bart, which was Lisa was hoping for. She told Bart she actually liked the idea of the two of them and that he should try some Alcha-non meetings to show Alex that he was going to change, not only for himself, but for her as well. Walking down the pier, she finally found them. Sitting at the end of the dock, side by side, watching the moon cast it's silvery shadow across Springfield's polluted waterfront.

Lisa smiled.

_So, everything is turning out good, for a change._

Lisa sat down on a bench, deciding to wait a little longer until announcing her presence.

Watching her brother and Alex, however, made her feel a little envious. Wishing that she had someone.

Her dire thoughts were interrupted when she saw a cab pull up, near the docks and the window roll down. She couldn't see the face, but it was apparent, who ever it was, was watching her brother and Alex.

Lisa was thinking of walking up to it and see who had such interest in the two but the window rolled up and the taxi quickly departed.

Chapter Seven: Warnings

Bart Simpson awoke the next day with restored vigor. The night before had been perfect. Not only was he able to tell Alex how he felt about her but it turned out that those feeling were reciprocated. Getting dressed, he felt, though, that there was something else he needed to do, something imperative.

He was startled as his phone rang. He answered it.

"Hello?"

The other voice was muffled. "_Hello, Bart Simpson."_

Bart sat down at the table and pulled out a pen and paper to record down this conversation so he could talk about it with the police later.

"Who is this?" He asked.

"_That's not important. I know who you are, Bart. I know who you were with at the waterfront. Stay away from her. This is your only warning."_

Before Bart could reply the caller hung up.

Alex was at breakfast microwaving a veggi-burrito when the phone rang.

"Hello, Simpson's residence." Alex answered.

She heard breathing on the other end but no voice.

"Hello?" She tried again.

"_Hello, Alex Whitney." _

Alex was taken back by the muffled voice.

"Who is this?"

"_That's not important. You listen and you listen good, stay away from Bart Simpson. If you don't, well, use your imagination on what might happen."_

Alex glared, "Hey, I don't like being threatened. Back off."

She then slammed the phone on its holder.

Lisa came into the kitchen, adjusting her bathrobe, and yawning.

"What's all the noise, Alex?"

Alex sighed, "Some crank call warning me to stay away from your brother."

Lisa's eyes went wide. "What?"

Alex laughed, "I've had the same bogus, trying-to-scare-the-crap-out-of-you, kind of situations back in L.A. Believe me, Lise, it's nothing to worry about."

Lisa didn't look totally convinced. From the person in the cab spying on Alex and Bart last night to this phone call, Lisa was worried.

"Maybe we should call Police Chief Lou about this."

Alex shook her head, "Lisa, it's not worth it. I mean, c'mon, this is probably some jerk from the Reunion who's pulling a prank on us. You remember those crank calls we got when we were in High School."

Lisa sighed in agreement.

The two of them never discussed the topic again for that afternoon.

The two had spent the morning and the early part of the afternoon at Alex's new building cleaning out the place. Alex had already hired some seamstresses and some low maintenance workers but there was something else she needed.

"A name. This place needs a name. Something catchy, yet, sophisticated."

Lisa and Alex had taken a break from working and were getting coffee at Moe's.

"How about 'Alex Whitney's Catwalk'?"

Alex shook her head, "No, nothing with my name on it."

The two looked at their coffee while thinking.

Alex started humming, softly.

"What's that?" Lisa asked.

Alex smiled, "When I was with your brother on the pier, he was humming "Through Glass" by Stone Sour. It's kind of silly but it's stuck in my mind."

Lisa smiled, "I guess you two really hit it off last night."

Alex nodded, "I know he's your brother and my feelings about what he did in the past not withstanding; I have to tell you, Lise, he's perfect. I really haven't felt this way before about a guy. Not even Jeramy, Douglas, Evan, or any of the other guys I've dated in the past could compete with your brother."

Lisa shook her head in awe. "Wow."

"I know. The fact he feels the same about me is even more incredible. I really don't know how this happened. I just expected to come back to Springfield and open a dress shop."

Neither did Lisa.

Bart was sitting at Café de Jimbo's when Gina had finally arrived. He had debated about still meeting with Gina after he had that night with Alex. Wrestling with the pros and cons of him meeting his ex today, Bart finally settled on the fact that Gina was a big part of his life, one that he'd like to have in it still.

The two had ordered their meals and were talking about the various things that were happening, and all was going well, until Gina asked Bart something he had hoped she wouldn't.

"So, are you seeing anybody?"

Bart sighed and nodded.

Gina grinned, she had always liked it when she could make him nervous.

"So…who?"

Bart put down his napkin and leaned back in his chair.

"I know you're going to make fun of me when I tell you."

Gina smirked, "I would _never_ do that. C'mon tell me who it is."

Bart leaned forward and in a low tone said, "Alex Whitney."

Gina's eyes went wide, "_Fashion Queen_? Wow, Bart, I never would have guessed."

For some reason, maybe it was just Bart, but it looked to him as though Gina wasn't really all that surprised. More likely that she wanted him to announce it so she could dispel some disbelief on her part. Bart ignored it, for now, and in turn gave her a mischievous grin.

"How about you? Anyone rocking your world, right now?"

Gina shook her head, "No. I've decided to hold off dating anyone until I can get my anger in check. My therapist says I'm doing great but that last one said the same thing and, well, you know what happened."

Bart gloomily nodded. This part of the conversation was one he was hoping to avoid. Rehashing the past, especially his with Gina, was something Bart was trying to avoid more and more.

The two went on to more, happier, topics when their orders came.

Maggie Simpson went to the Springfield Y.M.C.A to pick up her check and was about to leave when she overheard a certain person.

"With _Fashion Queen_? Are you sure, Jessica?"

Maggie could hear Sherri and Terri asking her in disbelief.

Jessica nodded, "Who is this woman, anyways?"

Sherri had a grin that spread a cross her face, "She's a fashion obsessed little wimp that was friends with Bart's sister Lisa. They were the ones we had the pleasure of making life hell for back in High School."

Jessica thought for a moment and then asked, "What's she doing back in Springfield?"

Terri shrugged, "I heard from my dad that she bought an office building and was planning on turning it into a dress shop, but no one really knows. A lot of people heard she went to Los Angeles to work for some big Hollywood studio. It's kind of weird her showing up back the same day you do, huh?"

Jessica turned away, "Maybe not. All I know is that miss _Fashion Queen_ is going to have to fight if she thinks she'll be able to take Bart Simpson away from me; and I know I'm not prepared to let him go."

Sherri giggled, "Gee, Jessica, what are you going to do?"

Jessica gave a malicious grin, "Oh, nothing much. Just a small warning."

Later that evening Bart was out walking with Alex inside her new building.

"Wow, Alex, I can't believe you got this for such a great price. I guess I'm going to have to double my efforts in Laura's paternity case, just to make it up for her."

Alex grinned, "I guess you might have to, I was more surprised than you were seeing how great of structure this building's in, considering of all the recent fires that have been happening in this part of town since the last twenty years."

Bart nodded.

The two walked to the top of the building and went to a door that was off to the right. Going through the door revealed that it was the head office and behind the moldy desk was a window that over looked the town.

Bart and Alex walked to it and peered out at the city scope. All of the building in the area either had their red lights shining above the building, to warn off low flying planes. Or their windows were lit with people who were still working late.

Bart sighed a happy sigh, "This town is always alive no matter what time of day."

Alex started at Bart in wonder. This man was so different than the one he was seventeen years ago when she had first met him. Lisa had told her that the late Frank Gelwood was the person who changed Bart Simpson forever. Well, maybe not forever. Bart still had his boyish chagrin that still made him Bart Simpson.

Alex felt him take her hand into his and squeeze gently.

She smiled. Coming back to Springfield has been the best choice she's made in a long time.

Bart suddenly took a look at his watch and then he stiffened.

"Aw, crap! I was supposed to meet Milhouse back at the apartment half an hour ago. Alex, I'm sorry, but I need to jet. Can I meet you tomorrow for breakfast?"

Alex nodded.

Bart was about to leave, but turned back and gave Alex a deep kiss.

Alex blushed but pushed him away, laughing.

"Go, you need to get there."

Bart smiled and left.

Milhouse Van Houten had gotten to Bart's apartment forty minutes ago and when he did he blacked out. Now, awaking in what appeared to be Bart's closet, Milhouse found himself tied up and gagged. He couldn't move but he noticed there was a crack in the doorway of the closet. He watched as Bart entered his apartment, which the door was opened.

"Yo, Milhouse. You in here?" He called.

Fearing for his friend's safety, Milhouse desperately called out muffled warnings. But, to no avail.

Bart walked into the kitchen and laid his keys on the table only to jerk around.

"Who are you, how'd you get in!" Bart said, to someone Milhouse couldn't see.

"_I gave you a warning Bart Simpson. You should have heeded it."_

Milhouse watched in horror as second man came behind Bart and hit him on the head with a tire-iron.

Bart last word was "D'oh!" as he landed to the floor.

A/N: Well, well, who could this mysterious person be? Does it have something to do with Jessica? Gina? Or Alex? Do I dare ask Maggie? Find out next on the next episode of Bart Simpson: Attorney At Law!

A/N II: Again, thanks to those who've reviewed and commented on my series. And those who haven't I await, patiently, for your response.

Q-n-P


	8. A Night At The Maison Derriere

Alex, Lisa, and Maggie have been waiting at the Police station for over an hour. Alex had gotten the call from Lisa when Maggie had called her from Bart's apartment when she had found blood on the floor and Milhouse tied up in the closet. The police had told them that there were signs of a struggle and Milhouse had told them what happened when he was there.

Lisa was worried sick, she hadn't told her mother of what had happened but she didn't have to when both her and Homer had come running in.

"Lisa! What's happened? It's been all over the news that your brother's been kidnapped, is there any word?" Marge asked, clearly out of breath.

Lisa shook her head and hugged her crying mother.

Everyone sat down as the police were making calls to see if anyone in Springfield has seen or heard from Bart or his kidnappers.

Chapter Eight: A night at the Maison Derriere.

The police had told the Simpson's to go home and reassured them if they hear anything they'll call them as soon as possible, also vice versa.

Alex was making coffee for her and Lisa when there was a knock at the Simpson's door. Alex told them she'd get it and opened it to reveal Gina.

Alex stood there numb both in mind and body. Gina, apparently, was silent, too.

Lisa walked up to Alex to see who was at the door and made a low growl when she saw who it was.

"What are you doing here, Gina?"

Gina, awkwardly, looked off to the side.

"I was wondering if there was any word of what happened to your brother."

Lisa didn't answer.

Alex sighed, "No. There hasn't."

Gina nodded, still not looking at either of them.

To Lisa's surprise, Alex walked outside with Gina and said to Lisa, "I'll be back in a bit."

Closing the door, Alex turned to Gina.

"I can understand why she's acting the way she is, I haven't been kind to this family, in the past." Gina said, gloomily.

Alex folded her arms, "Not to me, either."

Gina nodded, still looking down.

Alex sighed, "I'm sorry, Gina. I didn't mean to act that way."

Gina shrugged, "You had every right to."

The two had walked all the way down to the Springfield Pier.

Looking for any indication of what happened to Bart. Knowing about Springfield lax efforts in investigating, the two women took it upon themselves to follow the clues that led up to the disappearance.

Stopping at the exact place, Lisa had described as the place where the cab was when Bart and Alex were together that night, Alex looked and found the tire tracks.

"Hey, Gina, over here!"

Gina walked over and found the prints as indicated.

Both women followed the tracks all the way to the Gentlemen's Club.

Walking down the flight of stairs, Both Alex and Gina pounded hard against the door.

There was a moment of silence, then followed by a soft sound of footsteps coming to the door.

The eye-window slid open and a set of eyes eyed Alex and Gina suspiciously.

"Eh, whaddya want?"

Alex looked defiantly at the eyes, "We want Bart Simpson, where is he?"

The person behind the door turned and looked as though he was mutely conversing with someone in the room, he then turned his attention back to Alex and Gina.

"Sorry, no one here by that name. Now scram!"

He then shut the eye-window.

Alex turned to Gina.

"I think we have the place."

Homer Simpson was pacing back and forth in front of his boss, Mr. Clemens, doors at the Springfield Power Plant.

Lenny and Carl exited through the doors from down the hallway.

"Hey, Homer. Any new about your son?" Asked Lenny.

"No, and Mr. Clemens has me doing rounds through the Plant."

Carl looked to Lenny and then back to Homer.

"Uh, Homer, no hard feelings or nothing, but, uh, aren't you supposed to be walking all over the Plant?"

Homer sat down and put his arms around the back of his neck, "I feel I've covered enough ground."

Just then an alarm sounded and Homer emits a loud "D'oh!"

He then punches some numbers on the phone and starts yelling at the phone.

"Milhouse! Get your butt up here!"

Homer laid back and cracked his knuckles.

"Aww, yeah."

Bart awoke groaning, loudly.

Looking around his surroundings, he quickly figured out where he was. Fat Tony once had him here making bets and serving drinks to his clients. It was enjoyable until he was being played the escape hole to the supposed murder of Principal Skinner. Turning to be a mistake, Fat Tony tried to reel Bart back in only for Bart to flat out refuse him.

The Gentlemen's Club seemed to be empty only until the main door opened and in stepped Michael "Baby Tony" Williams. A person Bart had frequently tried to help the D.A. put behind bars and whom The Simpson Family had tried to help out when he was trying to get out of his father's wing. After Fat Tony's death, he had taken over his father's business. Proceeding him from the entryway was Dolph Emerson, one of the four bullies that had ruled all three of the schools Bart had attended. Dolph had surprisingly had graduated and got a Private Investigator's license. Bart finally understood who it was that night in his apartment.

One thing that was concerning Bart was why was the Mafia interested in getting him? Although he had caused trouble by trying to bring them down he also had helped a lot of their stooges. Nelson Muntz, Ralph Wiggum, Bruce Kearny, and Kathy Lee Gifford, all of whom had attachments, Bart had helped.

The next person who came in made it all too clear.

A man next to Michael put a blindfold on Bart. Before a blunt object hit Bart on the head he remembered the distinct smell of lilac and a voice saying, "You're mine now, Bart."

Alex had told Lisa everything Gina and her had found out during their snooping.

Unfortunately, for Alex, the first thing Lisa did was complain about Alex spending that time with Gina.

"What happened to you hating Gina, Alex?"

Alex heaved a loud sigh, "C'mon, Lisa! I think it's best to forgive and move on, don't you?"

Lisa started pacing and then sat down.

"You're right. I'm sorry."

Alex sat down next to her dear friend, "It's alright. Now, who do we know that can get us into that club?"

Lisa thought long and hard about it and then finally came up with one name.

"Nelson."

Walking down to Moe's Tavern, Alex and Lisa were trying their best to try and quickly devise up a plan to talk to Nelson into getting them in when the door of the Tavern flew open and Martin was flung out.

Nelson came out the door too.

Martin looked up at him, defiantly.

"Hey! What did I do?"

Nelson brandished his fist at him.

"This is the last time I'm going to tell ya, dork. Next time you get drunk off of two bottles of Zima and start calling names at me, I'm calling the cops."

Martin hiccuped as he tried to stand up, "All I said was that we were "friends"."

Nelson pointed a finger at him, "That's what I'm talking about, don't ever let me see you here again, got it?"

Nelson slammed the door shut as Lisa and Alex helped up Martin.

"Are you okay?" Asked Lisa.

Martin waived a dismissive hand; "I'm fine!"

Martin then passed out.

Lisa and Alex decided to leave him there and proceeded into Moe's.

Homer walked into his boss, Mr. Clemens, 's office.

"You wanted to see me, sir?"

Mr. Nathan Clemens dressed in a royal purple business suit with a Smurf's tie on, his blonde mustache twitched into a grin as he looked up at Homer.

"Aw, Homer! Glad to see ya. Say Homer, sorry to hear about your son, bad luck that, I want you to know you have my deepest sympathies and I hope he comes back well."

Homer smiled, "Thank you sir."

Mr. Clemens got up from his desk and walked around it and put his arm around Homer.

"Homer, I like you, you know why?"

Homer stumbled on this question.

"Uh…Well…uh…"

Mr. Clemens slapped Homer on the back; "Relax Homer! This wasn't a test."

Homer wiped his brow in relief.

Mr. Clemens laughed, "That's what I like about you Homer, you're so down to Earth."

Mr. Clemens walked back to his desk and sighed loudly.

"Well, now back to business. Now, Homer, we've been given a great opportunity. We're to be apart of the Springfield's Support Your Local Honorary Businessman, or S.S.Y.H.L.B. for short, is being held at the Maison Derriere. Homer, I'd like you to represent the Plant at that benefit, are you game?"

Homer straightened up and gave a salute, "Yes, sir!"

Moe's was busier than usual and making their way through to try and find Nelson was becoming increasingly hard for Alex and Lisa. The place was advertising a new Duff promotion called "All new 50 more alcohol Duff!"

Making their way the bar table, Moe, who had lost his hair and had lost an eye due to a mishap with a shrimp fork at a Red Lobster, took to surprise when he saw Lisa.

"Oh, uh, hey Lisa. You're going to have to tell Homer that I don't have anymore betting money for him."

Lisa shook her head, "Moe, I haven't done that for seventeen years. The reason we're here is to see Nelson."

Moe seemed taken back, but merely pointed to a door that had a sign which the sign had the word "Bouncer" scratched off and the word "Floor Negotiator" in it's place.

Lisa knocked at the door to where there was a loud grunt.

"Hey, it's sleeping time, I have thirty minutes until I really work."

Lisa sighed, "Nelson, it's Lisa, can I come in? I need to talk to you."

There were shifting sounds in the room followed by a loud booming sound as if something hard hit against the floor.

Locks were being released and then the door swung open.

Nelson held the door open.

"Come on in."

Lisa and Alex came into the room, which was decorated with various heavy wrestling promos and some featuring the "Blue Collar Comedy Tour". Nelson had a desk and behind it was a small TV screen that showed a black and white view of the bar.

Nelson's tattered leather chair made a squeal as he sat down in it.

"So, what do you two losers want?"

Lisa sat down in the wicker chair that was really worn down and tried her best not to fall through the hole that was widening in it.

"Nelson, I was wondering if you could do me a favor."

Nelson eyed her carefully, "What kind of favor?"

"You know the Gentlemen's Club?"

Nelson sat up straight, "Yeah, what about it?"

Lisa wasn't sure how well this was going to go, but decided to give it a try anyway.

"Any way you can get us in?"

Nelson thought about it and then said, "Well, yeah, maybe but they'll be at the Maison Derriere, dressing rehearsal is at five."

Lisa's eyes went wide, "Uh, what?"

Nelson crossed his arms, "You wanted to "get inside" right? Well, they need some dancers at the place and even though you two are major dorks you still fit the bill."

Alex tapped Lisa on the shoulder.

"Lisa did he say what I thought he said, we have to be _dancers_ in order to get in there?" She whispered.

Lisa sadly nodded. Turning back to Nelson she breathed in deeply, "Ok, we'll do it."

Bart awoke for the second time to a back room that looked way too familiar. He couldn't quite place it. The room was shaded in a deep purplish color and the air smelled of smoke and alcohol. He was in a bathroom which had an assortment of pictures lined up on the wall, one of them made him realize where he was. When Bart was ten he had accidentally broken a gargoyle on the property of an elderly named Belle. Belle's house it turned out to be a burlesque house, which was intriguing to Bart. Bart worked off the damage to the gargoyle by working as a hat checker and collector. Bart hadn't returned here for eleven years so he could actually be here legally. He returned again a year later for Belle's funeral. She didn't have any family to take over the business but Bart had managed to convince his Aunt Patty to take over the place.

The picture on the wall was of Bart and Belle when Bart had turned twenty-one. Bart realized he now was in the second floor bathroom of the Maison Derriere.

Bart wondered how long he has been here and if his Aunt knew her nephew was locked up in the bathroom.

Suddenly the door swung open and in came Michael and Dr. Nick Rivera.

"Hi, everybody!" Said the charismatic doctor.

"Hi, Dr. Nick." Bart said.

Michael leaned against the sink as Dr. Nick brought out a syringe and got out a bottle.

"Now, Bart, I'm going to give a little something to make you say things you normally wouldn't say."

Michael made a grunt.

"Oops, heh, didn't mean to say what I shouldn't have." Dr. Nick nervously chuckled.

Bart was about to say something when Dr. Nick injected it into Bart's arm.

Bart found the whole world slipping into a deep red spiral and then fade to black.

Homer walked into the Simpson's household whistling the theme to "Gilmore Girls" when he didn't hear anything.

"Marge? Lisa? Baby?"

He soon found a note on the fridge.

Homer read it aloud, " "Dear Homer, I've gone to see if the Police have found out anything on Bart, dinner's cooking right now, see you soon, Marge."" Homer shrugged and went to the fridge to get a beer and then trailed back to the living room and turned on the set. He was about half way into his show when he looked up at the clock and he suddenly got up to his feet and panicked.

"Aw, crap! I'm going to be late for the benefit! Stupid Fox network, always wasting people's time!"

Homer then ran out of the house and got to his car and sped off.

Alex and Lisa arrived at the Maison Derriere forty minutes ago and were shown into the dancers changing room.

Alex wasn't entirely sure how they were supposed to find Bart when they were forced to dress so scantily in order to gain entrance to this place. Nor was she sure of what Lisa had in mind once they were inside.

The wardrobes, no matter how illicit they were, were not half bad in her mind. Alex made some quick notes in her head on her Valentine selection that she'd have available in her shop.

All the women here were assigned to various tasks until their routines to be on the dance floor were established. They had Alex dressed in a very slim negligee that was black and had sequins running along the sides. Her halter-top, along with her thong, was also black. She was allowed to do her own make-up for which she was grateful because it seemed that the other women here had made theirs a little too seductive and not practical.

Stepping out of her dressing room she glanced around and failed to see Lisa.

She then heard a small voice call out, "Alex? Are you out there?"

It was Lisa.

Alex knocked on the door of the fitting room next to her and Lisa opened it and brought her inside.

Lisa was dressed in more of a red ensemble accompanied with a red feather boa that draped around her neck.

Alex laughed, "Wow, Lisa, if only your parents were here to see you today."

Lisa blushed a deep crimson, "Please, not now. I still haven't figured out how were going to find Bart."

Alex thought for a moment. "Well, I'm supposed to be working the casino floor, I can see if I can find or hear any info relating to Bart, why don't you do the same."

Lisa grabbed her friend's arms, "That's just it, they're putting me on the stage floor to sing a song, looking like this! Most of Springfield's going to be here and half of the people know me!"

Alex understood, and a lot of the people knew the Simpson's and the word would get back home to her family.

Looking around the room she then found a masquerade mask.

"Here put this on and you'll be okay. Now, what're you going to sing?"

Lisa seemed to settle down after seeing the mask and then thought for a moment.

"Well, I was thinking, maybe, KT Tunstall's Big Black Horse and The Cherry Tree."

Alex nodded.

There was a knock at the door and a man said, "Hey ladies, you done yet? The girl in red is needed on stage."

Homer walked in and found his nametag along with others at the table near the entrance of the casino. Walking inside he found Moe and Barney shooting craps.

"Moe, Barney, how's the night, guys!"

Both of the men greeted Homer and the three went to get a table as the speaker came onto the stage.

Alex watched Homer and the others at his table and was feeling a little apprehensive about coming out. Those feelings were subsided when she saw how many beers they were ordering and then snuck out onto the floor.

Walking through the various rows of people she was asked to stop, a couple of time, to either take pictures with someone or blow on somebody's dice. One guy asked her to stay with him during a hand that he was playing, for good luck, but she lied to him about having to be some where else.

So far, overhearing a lot of the groups' conversations she wasn't hearing anything relating to Bart. She was also getting dehydrated, so she went over to the bar for some water.

The bartender mocked her for a bit for getting water at such a wet place and Alex paid him double just to shut him up and not draw attention to the two of them.

Alex looked to the stage to see Lisa. Lisa seemed to hold herself okay despite what she was wearing and the fact that so many people from town were here, not to mention her own father. Alex started looking up until she saw the second floor of the building and she saw something that made her sure they were on the right track. Jessica Lovejoy, dressed a little more dignified than Lisa or Alex, was walking with three men to a room that didn't seem to have a window. Alex knew she needed to act quickly.

Getting up, she headed over to the stairs only to find that two men were guarding it.

One of them was giving her "the look" which gave her a quick, but unformulated, plan.

As soon as she was about three feet from the landing, the man on the left stepped forward.

"Excuse me, Miss, but no one's allowed beyond this point."

Alex tried her best to sound seductive, "I'm sorry sir, maybe a _strong, sensible, handsome man_, such as yourself, could point me to the lady's room up there; unfortunately there's a line down here."

The man made a face as to say that he wasn't buying it, fortunately, the other guy did.

"No problem, ma'am, right this way."

The other guy looked as though he was going to argue until he saw another person making their way to the stairs and instead made his way to thwart this person.

Alex made her way up the staircase and took a left to the hallway she saw Jessica make and found herself in a place that looked like a reception. A man came out from a door and Alex saw he had a side arm. Panicking she looked for any door to hide in. She was wondering how she was going to get around looking the way she did.

Finding the women's rest room, she slipped in and, luck had it, found that some women left her jacket inside. Slipping into it, she came back out and went to the two double doors at the end of the hall. She could hear music.

Stepping inside, she saw a minister and walked up to him.

"Excuse me, sir, but, I've misplaced my planner and have forgotten whose wedding I'm attending. I have so many cousins, it's hard to remember whose getting married, half the time."

The Minister smiled, "Why, no problem, Miss. This is the wedding for Ms. Lovejoy and Mr. Simpson."

Alex felt as though she was going to be sick. But being Lisa's friend for all these years has taught her to look for facts not for half-truths.

"Do you know where I can find the Groom?"

Homer was through his third beer when he looked at his watch, "Uh oh, it's nine, I probably should go home."

Homer tapped a woman on the shoulder, "Excuse me, Miss, but can I get my beer to go, and I…Huh, why are you wearing that stupid mask, I bet you're the prettiest thing on this damn…Wha? Lisa!"

Homer looked across the floor and saw his daughter wandering around dressed in a thing her would never let her dress.

"Sorry, Miss, gotta go." Homer ran over to Lisa and turned her around, "Why are you here?"

Lisa blushed and pulled her father over to a corner of the room and said in a low tone, "Dad, don't draw attention to me. Alex and I found out Bart was being kept here, so we had to disguise ourselves in order to be allowed to get in here."

Homer folded his arms, "I don't care what excuse you have, little miss dress-up. You're coming home right now and…What! Bart's here?!"

Alex walked through what seemed another long hallway to a door that was locked with a pad lock.

Alex started knocking on it.

"Bart? Bart, are you in there?"

She heard groaning, "Bart, it's me, Alex. Are you in here?"

The groaning continued.

Alex heard some person clear their throat behind her and she spun around to see Jessica and three other men leering at her.

Then another face appeared that made Alex's mind spin.

Gina came up from behind Jessica and said, "Sorry, _Fashion Queen_, this is the end of the road."

To be continued…

A/N: I'm sorry these chapters are short but they'll lead up to the big ones, promise.

Q-n-P


	9. A Civil Action, Cut, and Print!

After arguing the matter over with her father numerous amounts of time, Homer finally said "ok" and Lisa and him walked over to the office of Patricia Bouvier, Aunt Patty's, office. Knocking on the door, they were met with a hesitant grunt and then the door opened.

Patty leered at Homer when she saw him and then she saw Lisa next to him.

"So, this is how you're going to let me see my niece, Homer? Dressed like one of my girls?"

Homer scowled at his sister-in-law while Lisa tried to maintain the peace. Lisa explained both reasons for them being there and why Lisa was dressed the way she was. When Lisa had mentioned Jessica Lovejoy, Patty seemed to be surprised.

"Lovejoy? She's having a wedding in our main parlor on the second floor above."

This both shocked and confused Lisa; Homer, on the other hand, was busy looking at some photos on the wall.

"Who the hell is Hilary Clinton?" He asked.

Chapter Nine: A Civil Action, Cut, and Print!

Alex was taken to a room that was opposite from the one Bart was in, and was promptly locked tight.

Alex still had no clue on why Gina and Jessica joined forces. Both wanted Bart, that was all too clear, but working together? They both couldn't have Bart, so why?

Alex felt her head strain from trying to figure out these questions and decided to concentrate on finding out if Bart might be able to hear her through the wall.

"Bart?"

No answer.

"Bart, it's me Alex, are you ok?"

Still no reply. The first rational idea came to Alex that they might just have him tied up and gagged, but then other dreadful scenarios surfaced in her mind.

Tears started coming to Alex's eyes and she started banging against the wall.

"Bart! Please, answer me!"

The, her body weakening, Alex slumped down the wall to the floor and softly cried herself asleep.

It was an hour later when she awoke and she heard a tapping on the wall.

"Alex?"

Jessica Lovejoy stormed into the boardroom, which was across the room from the reception hall.

Gina, Sherri, Terri, Nelson, Michael and his goons were all there talking amongst themselves.

"I thought this was going to be smooth and discreet. What the hell happened! Why is Lisa Simpson and that one girl here?"

Gina sat down and smirked at Jessica, "You know, as well as I do, how Lisa Simpson loves to be nosey and solve things she shouldn't. It's just a minor formality."

Jessica still frowned, "But who told her that we were going to be here."

Nelson stood forward, "That pip-squeak Martin Prince. I was talking on the phone with Michael and Martin must've overheard me. Don't worry, I'll take care of him."

Jessica still looked away, tapping the table, impatiently.

Gina sighed, "What's the problem, Jessica?"

Jessica stood up, "The problem? The problem is I've spent so much of my money to make this plan work and right now the plan isn't looking too good. I thought busting you out of jail, and enlisting the help of the Mafia would help. But no, Bart's resisting the drug; a drug, I was told, would even work on a chimp!"

Sherri spoke up, "But, Jessica, Bart's no ordinary chimp."

Gina just sat back and thought to herself:

_This woman tries too hard. Bart really isn't that hard to get but it requires subtle honesty, which wins him over in a heartbeat. Although, the way things are looking with him and Alex, that may not be the case anymore. Anyways, Jessica sprung me from jail to help her get Bart; the least I could do is make an attempt to help her out._

"Gina, what should I do about Lisa Simpson?" Asked Jessica.

Gina sighed and waived a dismissive hand, "Do what you want, Jessica. I've gotten you this far, I'm sure you'll be able to take care of the rest."

Gina, then, got up and walked out of the room, being followed quickly by Sherri and Terri.

Once out of the room, Sherri walked in front of Gina and asked, "Remind me why you're doing this, Gina."

Gina stopped and looked at both of the twins.

"Isn't it obvious? This isn't a free "get out of jail" card I got, I've got to pay dues."

"I thought you loved Bart. Why are we letting Jessica have him? Doesn't it upset you?" Terri asked.

Gina didn't answer but instead looked at the floor. She held her gaze there for a minute and then looked at the girls again.

"Why is this bothering you two?" She asked.

Sherri sighed, "I don't know really. I guess it was fun to think of the idea that things were going to go back to the way they were."

Terri nodded, "You know, back to the "old days"."

Gina stood there looking at them and turned her head away and kept walking down the hall not looking back at either of them.

Bart leaned the left side of his body against the wall as he conversed with Alex on what has happened since he'd been kidnapped from his apartment.

"You know, _you're_ torturing me by that description of what you're wearing now." Bart grinned.

He could tell she was blushing on the other side when she told him to hush.

Bart smiled to himself. It felt good to him talking to her. During his time, he had wondered if anyone knew he had gone. Hearing that his sister and Homer were here gave him reassurance that he'd be found.

There was an unlocking sound to Bart's door that made Bart cease his discussion with Alex and lay back to the way he was.

When the lock was removed and the door opened, Bart glared venomously at Gina as she dragged a chair in to sit down on.

"And just to think, I was about to forgive you for all that you did to me."

Gina smiled at Bart; "I remember a time when you liked being tied up, Bart Simpson. You didn't complain then, did you?"

Bart noticed that Gina was saying that statement loud enough so Alex could hear her in the room opposite.

Bart turned his head away, to avoid looking at this woman.

"What do you want Gina?"

Gina shrugged, "It's not exactly what **I** want, now is it? This is all Jessica's little scheme on trying to make Bart Simpson her own. I must admit, Bart, she's very ambitious."

Bart, gloomily, nodded. He then looked back up at Gina.

"Let me guess, she's the one who sprung you from jail and is using you to get at me, right?"

Gina was taken back, "Wow, nice guess. You're right. She did, but that's not the extent of it. At first I flatly refused and then she put another chip on the table. She's paying me a lot of money for my service in this matter."

Bart eyed Gina suspiciously; "Do you trust her to keep her word?"

Gina shrugged, "It's hard not to. I'm indebted to her and have to see this out. Besides, all she wants is you, and when you finally break and she has you, I'm off the hook."

Bart laughed, "Wow, she's using you better than she used me when we were kids."

Gina cocked an eyebrow, "What do you mean."

Bart looked up at Gina, playfully; "Don't you get it, Gina? You're her scapegoat, the patsy, her Lee Harvey Oswald, you're the one who takes the fall, if or if not this plan of her fails."

Bart's magic seemed to work, as Gina seemed a little disturbed by what Bart had said.

"Maybe, but she still doesn't hold all the reins on me, and believe me, Gina Darrlow does have an escape plan."

Gina got up and left the room.

Alex had listened to the whole conversation and just whistled to herself, in amazement. The puzzle pieces seemed to be falling into place. There still was something about this that didn't make sense to her. Why did Jessica make herself such a likely suspect for kidnapping Bart? Why not come to the police with an alibi and try to pose herself as an innocent person? Alex reminded herself on what Bart had warned Gina. Gina was Jessica's escape. If Jessica couldn't have Bart, Gina would be sent back to jail because of it. Alex, suddenly, felt a little sorry for Gina. She was going to get sent back to prison no matter what she did in this. Her only outlet seemed to be of the cash Jessica was offering.

Alex was thinking more about it until the door to her room cracked opened and an all too familiar voice said to her:

"Be quiet and do exactly as I say."

Homer, Lisa, and Patty were heading to the landing of the stairs when the fire alarm sounded. Patty immediately abandoned the two and went to escort her women out of the building; Homer was about to leave too until Lisa reminded him of what they were trying to do.

The two guards that were protecting the landing left their posts and hurried upstairs. Homer and Lisa followed them up the stairs and down the hallway where a number of people were running past them and down the stairs.

One of the people, the preacher, Homer grabbed and pulled in close.

"Okay, Preachy, where's the boy?"

The Preacher seemed confused.

Homer then started shaking him.

Lisa put a hand on her father, stopping him from giving the man possible whiplash.

"Where's Bart?" She asked him.

The man pointed, with a shaky finger, to a room that had two double doors.

"Down there and in a room to the left." He said.

Homer dropped him to the floor and the two then went through the double doors only to find themselves being pointed at by a dozen guns.

Homer nervously chuckled. "Uh, Lisa, honey, what now?"

Lisa didn't have a clue.

Suddenly, Lisa saw Jessica come out of a room and shout, "He's not in here, either! Who was supposed to be watching them!"

Everyone, minus Homer and Lisa, nervously looked around at eachother.

"Find them!" Jessica barked. Jessica then left, totally unaware that Homer and Lisa were there.

The men put away their guns and then went into a mad hustle and darted darting in every way around the room.

Lisa and Homer made their way through and went to the room where Jessica had come out of. In there they found a straight jacket lying on the floor.

Lisa turned to her father.

"Bart's not here, Dad." She said sadly.

Homer scratched his head. "Well, where could he be?"

Sitting together in Barney's car outside of the Maison Derriere, Bart and Alex watched as the place started pouring out people.

Barney Gumble, whose hair was thinning on the front, had grown a graying beard to which he was rubbing.

Moe was sitting right next to him in the passenger seat.

Barney adjusted his glasses as Bart tapped him on the shoulder.

"Uh, Barney, shouldn't we be getting out of here so we're not seen?"

Barney belched, "Yes sir, Mr. and Mrs. Rosenthal, right away."

Barney then peeled out of the driveway and took Bart and Alex to Moe's.

Moe brought the two of them to the back cellar and said quietly to Bart, "Okay, now listen you two, there's a trap door on the floor there that leads down to the underground and in there is a ladder that comes out behind the bar. Get out that way and there should be a taxi waiting to take ya back home."

Bart nodded, "Thanks Moe. By the way, how did you know about us being held up?"

Moe smiled, "Well I'd do anything for Homer, and the two of you helped keep me in business for a good long time."

Bart shook his head; "You still didn't answer my question."

Moe looked behind himself and said quickly, "A friend told me, now scram, before anyone realizes you was here."

Moe, then, shut the door in front of Bart.

Alex, who was behind Bart, pulled on a string that was attached to a light.

"Wonder who that "friend" was." She said.

Bart shook his head, "I don't know. Let's get out of here."

Alex nodded.

They found the latch Moe was talking about and went down to the sub-floor basement. In there were numerous cots and survival supplies, which suggested that Moe, at one time, was using the place as a bomb shelter. Next to a case full of DDT was the ladder leading up. Coming out of the trap door which was next to "Horny Toad" adult bookstore, Bart and Alex spotted the cab next to the side walk.

Getting inside and giving directions to the Simpson's house, Alex exhaled a deep satisfying sigh.

Bart leaned next to her and kissed her gently on the top of her head.

The two were soon headed out home.

Homer and Lisa, even though they protested, were ushered out of the building by the Fire Department.

Homer desperately tried to get back in but was thwarted everytime by muscle bound firemen.

He soon gave up and sat down next to Lisa on the curbside.

Lisa looked down at the ground, sad and scared.

When the two of them heard Jessica say "them" Lisa was concerned that they had Alex too. They found another room next to Bart that had a similar lock, which was also empty.

Inside, Lisa recognized a faint smell of the type of perfume Alex uses.

Lisa had no trouble putting two and two together and knowing Alex probably found where Bart was and got herself captured. Now, Lisa had lost two people who meant something to her. Lisa gritted her teeth in anger. How sweet it would be if she got some alone time with Jessica and make her regret coming back to Springfield.

Lisa's violent, malicious, thoughts were put on hold as her cell phone was buzzing.

"Hello?"

"Lisa, are you and your father ok?"

It was Marge.

Lisa nodded, "We're fine. We lost Bart and Alex though."

Lisa then heard her mother clear her throat.

"Lisa, I want the both of you to come back home. Maggie needs to get picked up also."

Lisa was surprised by how her news didn't seem to affect her mother.

"Uh, Mom, didn't you hear me? We lost Bart and Alex."

Marge seemed to be a little preoccupied while talking to Lisa as Lisa kept on hearing other noises in the background.

"I heard you, Lisa. Now, please get your father and Maggie and come home." Marge then hung up the phone.

Lisa closed her cell phone, wondering if her mother was now getting into her senility this early in life, when something hit her.

She turned to Homer, "Dad, we need to get Maggie, I think Mom may have some info about Bart and Alex."

After picking up Maggie from the Springfield YMCA, the three went back to the Simpson's house where Lisa immediately ran inside and started calling out.

"Mom! We're home! What did you hear about Bart and Alex? Please tell me they weren't found dead! Were they?"

Marge came into the room and started hushing her daughter.

"Lisa please be quiet. Your brother and Alex are trying to sleep."

Lisa put a hand to her mouth, embarrassed by her outburst.

Marge gathered the three of them into the kitchen with her.

"Bart and Alex arrived thirty minutes ago. Someone helped them escape from that dreadful burlesque hall."

Marge had never liked the building despite the fact the town had fully embraced it and her sister was now running it.

"I decided to let them rest while I cooked a big "Welcome Back" meal for all of us." Marge finished.

"Mmmm…Welcome Back…Meal." Homer started drooling.

Marge had gone back to the oven while Homer was looking at all the things prepared at the table.

Lisa still wasn't satisfied and was hungrier for information than the baby back ribs and vegetarian tamales Marge was making.

"Who rescued them?"

"Moe and Barney." Marge said.

Maggie whistled in surprise, "I guess this means we'll have to re-include them in our phone book, huh Mom."

Marge nodded.

It was after ten o' clock when Bart and Alex had emerged from Bart's room and came into the dining room.

Bart was immediately hugged by both of his sisters.

"Hey, easy you two, I'm still a little weak where Dolph kicked me." Bart said wincing.

Lisa was on the verge of tears, "Oh, Bart. I was so worried."

Bart, affectionately, patted the top of his sister's head.

"Geez, Lise, don't have a cow, ok?"

Lisa chuckled a little hearing that.

Alex also got a hug from Lisa, although Lisa didn't display that same outburst of emotion she did from Bart.

Alex and the Simpson Family sat down to eat and Alex couldn't help but laugh as she watched the entire family, noisily, wolf down Marge's food.

After they had finished, Alex and the Simpson family seated themselves in the living room all with wineglasses making toasts to Bart and Alex's safe return.

Bart held his glass up high and said, "To Jessica Lovejoy, the one woman whose made my life a living hell and the same person who I'm going to have arrested and put away for a very long time!" Everyone cheered at this.

Later, when everyone was getting ready for bed, Lisa and Bart sat alone in the kitchen drinking milk.

"Bart, I was wondering, when you made that toast, why did you exclude Gina?"

Bart put down his glass and wiped his upper lip.

"Because, she's not the brains behind this scheme, it was Jessica."

Lisa sighed, "But Bart, she did have an equal hand in it."

Bart nodded, "She did, but look at it from a lawyer's view, Lisa: If I get Jessica I'll also get Michael "Baby Tony" Williams and his gang. It's the perfect domino dropper."

"So, what, is Gina just too small of a piece for you?" Lisa asked.

Bart shook his head, "No, it's not because of that. She's gone, Lise."  
Lisa looked perplexed, "Gone?"

Bart nodded, "Maggie told me, after dinner that she was calling her to yell at her but found out from Gina's mother that Gina had packed up all her things and was gone."

Lisa looked down at the table and sighed, "I guess all you have left is Jessica, huh?"

Bart nodded, "And tomorrow I'll make sure of it."

The following day Bart went straight to the Springfield Police Department and straight to Police Chief Lou's office. Bart explained to him what was said and what had happened Lou had listened intently all the way through, but when Bart came up with Lou posting an arrest warrant for Jessica, Lou stood up and shook his head.

"I'm sorry, Simpson, I can't."

Bart's jaw dropped to the floor.

"You can't?"

Lou nodded, "We weren't there. It'd be an improper arrest warrant. No judge would validate it."

Bart stood up, "What the hell are you talking about! My whole family can contest to the fact that I was kidnapped, hell, the whole city can! Alex Whitney could also, for she was also being held up besides me!"

Lou still said no.

Bart was furious by this and decided to head on over to the DA's office and file his situation with them only to find out from the Secretary that DA Cecil Terwilliger went on vacation to the Bahamas and wasn't expected back until December.

"What about the assistant DA?" Bart asked.

The Secretary with her big round eyes, looked confused. "Assistant DA? He's in prison. We're waiting for him to come back to work in three years."

Bart sighed loudly and left.

Bart's last place was the Mayor's office. Mayor Wendell Flodin, whose consistent sickness made him one of the most bizarre Mayoral candidates chosen by this city, was in fact a well respected Mayor when he won the election all the way through. Bart held him in respect but always felt guilty knowing that he wasn't the best person to him when they had been to school together. That was going to make this all the more harder, yet, Bart was convinced that he could still deal with Mayor Wendell.

Mayor Wendell's secretary wasn't at all helpful, unfortunately. It took almost thirty minutes until Bart managed to pry the phone away from her only to have her tell him that the Mayor wasn't there.

"Well, where is he?" Bart asked.

"City Hall, doing a zoning meeting with the Yokel family and HaYuk Family, now, if you don't mind." She then went back to her phone call.

As Bart was walking away from the office he was wondering who else he could talk to.

Then it hit him… _his_ office.

Taking a cab to the East Side of Springfield and arriving at his building, Bart took the elevator to the third floor and walked up to the receptionist at the far right side.

"Hello, Gladys, are the boys available?" Bart asked.

Gladys seemed to brighten up as she looked up and saw it was Bart, "Why, yes Mr. Simpson, they are. In fact, they told me to tell them to let them know when you came in."

A little while after, Bart was soon sent through the double doors and inside situated along side the long, narrow, table were his colleagues.

Alan Kelly, Richard Barnaby, and Phillip Greg, all of whom were talking animatedly, stopped when they heard the door and ran over to shake Bart's hand.

"Bart, old lad, grand to see you in such good shape, ma'boy!" Said Barnaby.

"Are you kidding? It'll take more than a thousand mobsters to bring down our kid!" Said Kelly.

"Hear! Hear! Bart, it's good to see you well, ol'chap." Said Greg.

Bart had always been fond of these old shysters.

When everyone had settled, Bart sat down with the three of them and announced that he was going to file a civil suit against Jessica Lovejoy for kidnapping. When Bart was finished, he found the room deadly silent.

The air that was previously in the room seemed to have died and the previously over-joyed colleagues of Bart's seemed to look at eachother, nervously.

Bart groaned to himself.

Ay Carumba, not them too.

"You think it's a bad idea?" Bart asked.

Kelly shook his head, "No, Bart, it's a capital idea, it's just…"

All three went silent again until Greg spoke.

"Bart, there's something you should know."

Bart looked at the three, "What?"

Barnaby stood up and went to the window. Looking out, he sighed and turned to Bart.

"Bart, Ms. Lovejoy is suing us and you for sexual harassment."

A/N: I want to let those know who felt a little dissuaded from the suffix of the title of this series that I originally had planned the whole series to run as a "Law and Order" kind of mock up, but then decided to take another route until now. Those who like how the series is going, don't be alarmed, it'll still have the same shtick that it has now but will also have more of a courtroom backdrop. In short, it'll still be good. I hope.

A/N: Again, thanks to all who've reviewed and those who'll review in the future.

Q-n-P


	10. Our Town

Word seemed to get out fast, as it has done in the past, in the town of Springfield. Bart Simpson, the "Boy-terror" who became the "Man-marvel" was suing Jessica Lovejoy, the "Ever-lovely Reverend's daughter", for kidnapping. The even bigger gossip was around the fact that Jessica was suing Bart for sexual harassment. Everyone in town were coming up with their ideas and stories of the two and who would eventually win the trial. Some said Bart was going to win based on the known history of Jessica and how she implicated Bart when she stole the Church's money. While others thought maybe Bart _was_ to blame this time, that his new ego got the better of him and that he was making up this whole story of kidnapping. Talking soon changed to confronting members of the Simpson family.

"Get out of here, you vultures! It's people like you that gave O.J. Simpson a bad name!" Homer said as he slammed the door of the house into the faces of some of the mob.

"But Homer, we just want to know what's really happening. Moe's placing bets on where this trial will go and who'll win it. And, quite frankly, I can't survive on anchovy paste, this time. I need to know who'll win it." Said Lenny from outside.

Homer stepped back outside and placed two firm fists against his hips.

"Oh, really. Well, I'll give that bookie the talking of a life-time!"

Homer closed the door and went back inside and dialed on the telephone.

"Hello, Moe? Put me down fifty on the boy."

Chapter Ten: Our Town.

Alex was walking with Lisa when three women walked up to them with cans of paint in their hands.

"There she is! The sister of the deviant!" One of the girls pointed at Lisa.

The other two girls approached with their paint cans ready.

Alex immediately grabbed Lisa's arm and the two of them ran all the way to Springfield Elementary School and managed to lose the women inside the School.

When the three women gave up and left, Lisa chuckled.

"What?" Alex asked.

Lisa smiled, "It's ironic, but today it's proven true. School is my sanctuary."

Alex smiled too.

The two women decided to spend some time walking around the school and reminisce about their time here and finding the GYM where they had became friends.

"Did you know it took me about of month to get that grease out of my dress?" Alex said laughing.

Lisa laughed too, "It didn't matter with mine. Mom bought the same kind of clothes for Bart and me until we went to Middle School."

"I remember getting kicked out of your house, by your Mom, for trying to alter your dresses to something new." Alex said smiling.

They walked around some more until approaching Lisa's locker.

"I wonder…" Lisa started fiddling with the combination lock and soon it clicked open. Reaching inside, Lisa moved her hand around the top of the inside of her old locker until her hand stopped and she pulled out a handful of old papers tied together with a rubber band.

Alex looked inquiringly to the bundle.

"What are those?" She asked.

Lisa smiled, "These are love letters sent to me by someone who called himself "Some-kind-of-wonderful"."

Alex grinned and elbowed Lisa, "How can you be sure it wasn't a girl?"

Lisa gave a bemused look, "Wow, Alex, never knew you thought of me like that."

Alex again elbowed her, "You wish, Simpson."

Lisa undid the rubber band and thumbed through the letters to the last one.

"No, I know this was a guy, due to the bad spelling and the fact that, in his last one, he was talking about his "area" of expertise."

Alex took the letter and read it, finishing it, she whistling loudly; "No, kidding. This is definitely a guy. Yowzah, does he has an imagination."

Lisa laughed and nodded her head.

Alex looked up from the paper, "So, when was the last time "lover-boy" wrote to you?"

Lisa started rubbing the side of her arm; "Actually…He hasn't stopped."

Alex almost dropped the paper, but quickly retrieved it as she looked at Lisa with wide eyes.

"What?"

Lisa nodded in confirmation.

"You're telling me, this guy has been writing to you ever since? Do you know who he is, have you two met?"

Lisa shook her head, "No. I haven't. It seemed too weird and risky. I've been enjoying his writing to me but at the same time I've been apprehensive about making any contact and it seems he feels the same way. Never once, in his letters, did he ever offer an invitation to meeting me at some place or time. The way I see it we have a mutual understanding and that we both agree not to leap over what we have."

Alex looked at Lisa with uncertainty, "And…what exactly is it that you two have? I mean, have you written back to him as well?"

Lisa shook her head, "I don't know anything about him, so it didn't really seem necessary."

Alex put a hand on Lisa's shoulder, "But Lisa, what if this guy is a stalker? Shouldn't you us your government ties to find out who it is that's sending you these?"

Lisa shrugged, "I've thought about it, but, I've been really busy and have been focused on more important things. Don't worry, though, Alex, other than the letters, which really haven't described me physically or gave any indication that he's seen me recently, they're virtually harmless, and so is he, by the way I look at it."

Alex wasn't sure she agreed with Lisa on this, but she did agree that Lisa was a careful person and wouldn't jeopardize herself.

The two, realizing what time it was, decided to leave and walked down the hallway and out the doors.

It's two o'clock in the morning and Bart wearily looks at his computer screen. He's been making rewrites and making adjustments with his presentation at the deposition hearing that would be the day after tomorrow. Bart had really hoped he would be able just to arrange this so Jessica would agree to move out of Springfield and let him get on with his life just as it was before she decided to move back. Alas, Jessica's lawyer, the ever nasally sounded Patrick Gweeble, had told him no over the phone, so Bart was now, working late.

Bart respected Gweeble as one lawyer to another, but personally he despised the man. Patrick Gweeble always represented the greediest of Springfield, those that Bart would love to see turn out penniless. Gweeble represented Mr. Burns when Bart was ten and was hit by Mr. Burns' car. Unfortunately, Homer and Mr. Hutz had lost the case when Marge had taken the stand and decided to end the trial by telling the truth, leaving the family with nothing and having to pay Mr. Hutz's outrageous attorney fees. Gweeble was a dangerously brilliant attorney and now was the one Bart had to meet on the battleground.

Sometimes Bart hated his work.

While he had been working, his two sisters, Alex, Marge and Homer, and finally Milhouse had visited him. Milhouse wanted, desperately, for Bart to work on this later and go bowling with him and Lewis. Bart declined and was now starting to wish he had taken up on that offer.

It was just turning three when the door leading to his office had opened and Bart recognized an all too familiar smell. He could also hear whispering voices and then a loud one.

"Run!" Said a voice to another. The steps of these two went loud and out the door.

Bart removed himself from his desk and went outside of his room to see what he had expected: A flaming bag of dog crap.

Bart went to the secretary's desk and removed the paper from the wastebasket. He then put the wastebasket over the bag, which extinguished it.

Then, grabbing the bag, he walked back into his office and opened the window. Knowing how long it would take to get to the bottom floor, Bart saw the kids calmly walking directly below him.

Bart dropped the contents of the bag directly on top of them.

"Nice try, amateurs." Bart said.

Bart smiled; hearing the pitiful cries of dismay from the two unlucky teenagers brought back some memories.

_I wonder if I've worn this suit too long. Maybe I should be bad ever once and awhile._

Looking out of his office window he could see the smoke coming from his home. No doubt Homer was trying to do his "Alien Calling" technique he devised whenever he got too much into watching "The X-Files". Thinking of that place he was immediately drawn to Alex there. She liked him for who he has now become and changing that may jeopardize their relationship.

_Nah, I'm too old for it. Bart Simpson is going to live the quiet simple life._ He said smiling to himself.

Then closing his window, Bart began getting ready to get out of his office.

The following Morning, Maggie got up and walked out of Aunt Selma's apartment, went downstairs and started up her motorcycle. Another thing that drove her mother nuts was Maggie owning this thing, not that she bought it with that in mind. She had it custom painted into a purple-ish color with two red cherries along the exhaust pipes. She bought it from an a junk yard dealer and then spent over 1,500 dollars just getting back to life and then decorated. In no way would she tell her mother the amount she had spent. It'd probably give her mother a coronary.

She had decided the previous evening to get out this early to work in order to avoid the insane people who were either bombarding her with questions about Bart's trial or calling her derogative names because of her relationship with Bart.

Mostly, Maggie needed to take this drive to clear her head. So much has passed on and a lot of it not to her liking. She had put so much hope on the idea of her brother and Gina being reunited and the idea of them reconciling their past and hopefully getting back to the place Maggie had felt she was most happy because of. Learning not only of Gina's betrayal but the mere fact she put her brother into harm's way made Maggie irritable. Was that it? Maggie had been wondering, recently, if that was the real reason she's felt so disconnected to everything that used to be a quote-un-quote-regular period in her day. Maggie had been mad before when she learned that Bart had slept with Jessica but even that didn't have her feeling what she's feeling now.

No.

The more Maggie thought about it, the clearer it became. She wasn't mad at Gina specifically to what she did to Bart. She was mad at her for what she did to her. Gina had always felt like an older sister to Maggie, someone that she'd always wanted in her life, and now she was gone. To where, God only knows.

Maggie drew a cigarette from a pack and lighted it, inhaling deeply, the toxic fumes bearing deep inside her and then exhaling them causing silver and gray silhouettes in the night's cold air.

As the temporary euphoric calm came over her, by the nicotine's influence, Maggie's eyes snapped open.

Her heart started beating rapidly as she fumbled with the throttle on her bike and then sped off into the darkness.

Homer was sitting on the couch watching a rerun of "The X-Files" when a brick came hurtling through the window.

Homer, absent-mindedly, said, "Marge, get the door. I think it's your sisters."

Marge came into the living room from the kitchen just as an engine started from outside and the vehicle peeled off.

Marge walked to the window and noticed the hole followed by the glass shards on her carpet with the brick lying near her feet. Picking up the brick she noticed that a note was tied to it.

"Homer, didn't you hear the window getting smashed? Homer?"

Homer starred dazily at the screen, "Stupid Cigarette Man, don't you know Mulder's going to catch you?"

Marge walked up and put the brick underneath her husband's nose; "Homer! This is serious. People are throwing bricks through our window!"

Homer pushed the brick away, "Oh, please, Marge. Don't worry. Our insurance covers bricks."

Marge put her hands against her hips, "That's not what I'm worried about."

Homer didn't hear her as he started mumbling, "Oooooh…Dana Scully…."

Marge sighed deeply and went into the kitchen. Sitting down at the table she untied the brick and read the paper, which was applied to it.

After reading it, she knelt her head down and shook her head, vigorously.

_This town…_

Bart appeared fully dressed for his lunch with Alex, which made Alex feel embarrassed. She had, unfortunately, thought the two of them would be dressed casual and had come in a white tank top with the "Red Hot Chili Peppers" band's logo on the front and blue faded jeans. It almost looked as though Bart was someone who would be either questioning her or giving her advice, not a lunch date with his girlfriend.

Her anxieties were put to rest when he leaned over and kissed her.

She returned to affection by placing her hand around his neck. They held that moment for a couple of seconds before releasing and returning to their food.

After finishing their subs, Bart and Alex briefly discussed what movies they both had wanted to see, when a person walked by the table and made a mock coughing gesture.

Bart, who had been irritated by hearing what has been happening with people tormenting his family, gave the stranger a sharp, "What?"

The man, who was taken back by the tone, took a letter out of his pocket and gave it to Alex.

"I'm told to give this to you and instruct you to give it to a Miss Lisa Simpson."

Alex cautiously accepted the letter and was about to inquire about its origins when the man slipped out of the restaurant.

Looking back at the letter, she opened it and took out the paper. Reading it, Alex laughed.

"What is it?" Bart asked.

Alex smiled, "Well, it's definitely for your sister, but it's not malicious, so I think you can relax."

Bart looked inquiringly at Alex, "Whose it from? And why'd they have you give it to her?"

Alex decided she'd tell Bart later and told him likewise, the rest of the lunch went back to the movie plan.

Abe Simpson, who by most of accounts had aged like an half-eaten apple left out in the sun for over a decade, was sitting at his desk writing a new complaint about a program he had watched.

"Dear Mr. Matt Groening, I'm appalled by your show "Futurama". Depicting old people as senile mad scientists is only HALF-true! Please, correct your mistake. My other complaint is the fact your walking radio talks, drinks beer, and beats up people! Walking radios do not talk! Sincerely Abraham Simpson."

Abe found it better when narrating what he'd been typing, just so the whole damn world would hear of it. Wiping the sweat off his brow, Abe took the letter and put it into an envelope and headed to the nurses' station to be delivered.

On his way he ran into his good friend Jasper Barnsworth.

"Hey Jasper, what's the good news?" Abe asked cheerfully.

"Nothin' good happenin' today, Abe. Hear your grandson, the lawyer kid, is causin a whole lot of trouble on the hill."

Abe smiled, devilishly, "That's a good thing, maybe this time those old goose-whackers will finally let us have our "Matlock Express Way.""

Meanwhile, over at Moe's Tavern, Moe, who had the ping-pong table converted into a billboard with both Bart's and Jessica's pictures on it, with odds below them, was taking bets all around.

"Alright, you bums, that's fifty-fifty on Bart and same for the preacher chick, what do ya mugs bid?"

A hobo opened his palm to reveal a solid gold tooth.

"This?"

Moe snatched it and sighed, disgustingly, "Ok, listen up, that's it for the tooth bet, the tooth bet is closed! Now, what do I hear for bus tokens?"

A certain number of people held up their tokens, while this happened, Barney and Nelson conversed with eachother, quietly.

"You want me to do what?" Barney asked.

Nelson shushed him to a lower level.

"You heard me. I can't get out of here and if that family sees me I can say hello to prison, and I don't want to do that." Nelson said firmly.

Barney belched and then reached down and pulled out his small, two-barreled, gun from his sock.

"Don't worry about anything kid, things will go smoothly."

Back at the Simpson's house, Alex and Bart walked in holding hands and talking quietly when Marge ran up to  
Bart.

"Bart, I've been trying to call your sister, but she's not at your Aunt's nor is she at her job, do you know where she's at?"

Bart shook his head, "No I don't. Maggie and I haven't spoken since that morning. Is everything ok?"

Marge sighed, "Well, I was just getting used to the fact that we all were having dinner together like we used to, but I know she'll call and tell us where she's at, I'm sure of it."

Before dinner started, Alex went to Lisa's room and delivered her the letter.

"Lisa, you-know-who's been writing to you again. It seems he knows that I know you, he gave this to me when I was having lunch with Bart."

Lisa looked up at Alex in alarm, "You didn't tell Bart, did you?"

Alex shook her head.

Lisa heaved a sigh, "He'd act very badly to this."

Alex sat down in a chair next to Lisa, "Lise, I still think you two, maybe should try to meet. I mean, this guy is very sweet, and also a little perverted, but still sweet. Aren't you the least bit curious?"

Lisa sighed, "A little…"

"Well?" Alex said.

Lisa sighed again, "Ok, I'll do it. But only if it'll shut you up."

Alex laughed, "Never."

Eating with the Simpson's, Alex, again, felt like she was at home.

After dinner the family, again, had some wine and talked amongst themselves in the living room.

"So, Bart, are you ready for your case against Jessica, tomorrow?" Marge asked.

"You better not queer this one, boy. I'm ridding pretty hard on this one." Homer said brandishing his fist, threateningly, at Bart.

"Homer, what's that supposed to mean?" Marge asked, suspiciously.

Homer nervously chuckled, "Uh, nothing, sweet-pea, just uh whishin' the boy good luck."

Bart rolled his eyes; "Thanks, Homer. This one is going to be tough. Jessica hired the same lawyer who represented Mr. Burns, a lot of the time."

"Oh, my. Bart, do think you'll win this case?" Lisa asked, concernedly.

"Well, yeah, of course, after all, all of know Jessica _did_ kidnap not only me, but Alex as well. I've got Moe and Barney to help contest to the fact that they'd found both me and Alex tied up."

Alex sighed, "Jessica's going to put a spin on the whole thing, I'm sure of it."

Bart placed a hand on Alex's, "Hey, don't worry about this, ok? I'm ready for anything she'll throw at me."

The next day, at the Springfield Municipal Court, Bart was waiting outside of the courtroom when Jessica and her lawyer arrived.

Jessica, who was dressed really seductively, gave Bart a small wink and mouthed "I own you."

As she proceeded in, Mr. Gweeble stopped and shook hands with Bart.

"Hello, Simpson, nice day isn't it?"

"It is." Bart replied.

"Well then, after you." Mr. Gweeble held open the door and Bart stepped through.

Walking through the rows of chairs that were reserved for press or for people related to either party, Bart found his table and sat down. Opening his brief case he took out his yellow legal note pad and began writing some quick notes down on it.

"All rise for the honorable Judge Douglas Snyder." A bailiff said aloud.

Everyone stood as the judge walked from he open doors of his chambers.

"You may be seated." Said the Judge.

As everyone settled, Bart couldn't help but to think he was being watched from somewhere. He then looked to the right of him and out the window, where hundreds of Springfield onlookers were watching the trial through hearing-guns and telescopes.

"So, why are we all here today?" Asked the judge. Bart immediately snapped his attention back to what was at hand.

The bailiff came back to the judge and handed him the paper, "Docket number #6980, Bart Simpson Vs. Jessica Lovejoy charge by the plaintiff is kidnapping in the first degree, co-plaintiff, Lovejoy, is counter suing for sexual harassment."

The judge looked over the file and then nodded.

"Alright then. Miss Lovejoy do you have counsel to represent here today?"

Mr. Gweeble stood up, "Yes she does, your honor. By the way how's your wife, Susan?"

The Judge smiled, "She's fine, her sickness is getting better, thank you for the flowers Mr. Gweeble, she appreciated them."

Mr. Gweeble gave Bart a devious smile, "No trouble at all, your Honor."

"Mr. Simpson, do you have counsel?" The Judge asked, his attention on Bart, now.

Bart stood up, "Yes, your Honor. I'll be representing myself in this case."

Mr. Gweeble stood up, "Objection, your Honor."

Bart turned to Mr. Gweeble, "What!"

The Judge looked as though he was expecting this, "What is it, Mr. Gweeble?"

"Mr. Simpson cannot represent himself in this case due to the fact that he'll act hostile with my client and badger her to death."

Bart looked horrified, he now knew what Jessica's plan was today, hopefully he could beat it. "Your Honor, I would never compromise my practice by acting so irrationally towards a witness or plaintiff."

The Judge thought it over and then said aloud, "Plaintiff's objection is denied. You just watch your step Mr. Simpson."

Bart nodded, "Thank you, your Honor."

The more Bart thought about it though, it made him sick. Jessica and Gweeble would have all kinds of things waiting for him and tomorrow they'd be doing jury selection. Would he be able to survive their torment of him and his character?

A/N: Well, the trials about to begin, but there are outsiders who have their stakes in this and believe me they'll try to turn it in their favor, but…who will it be? Find out on the next exciting chapter of Bart Simpson: Attorney at Law!!!

A/N: I really hope this series is doing well and again thanks to all of you for R&R-ing, your opinions helped me through self-doubt.

Q-n-P


	11. The Trial: Part One

Alex, Homer, and Marge sat amongst the other onlookers in the cold, un-heated courtroom as Bart and Jessica's lawyer started jury selection.

Mr. Gweeble went up to Apu who was juror canidee number thirty-seven.

"Mr. Nahasapeemapetilon, how do you think you'll treat this trial?"

Apu, who was graying in the front and his face, which was sagging, shrugged; "The best any Indu would do, sir."

Mr. Gweeble nodded, "He'll do fine, your Honor."

Judge Snyder turned to Bart; "Does the plaintiff accept this man as a juror?"

Bart shook his head, "No, your Honor, I accept this man as a juror."

Homer turned to Marge as Mr. Gweeble questioned the next potential person, "Marge, this is boring. When does the balcony fall in?"

Marge sighed, "Homer, this isn't a sketch, there are no pratfalls nor jokes in this."

Homer sighed and then turned to Alex, "So, Alex, who do you think will win?"

Alex looked surprisingly at Homer, "Why, Bart, Mr. Simpson, don't you want him to win?"

Homer was about to reply when the three of them heard Bart say, "No, I do not accept this person, your Honor."

Chapter Eleven: The Trial: Part One.

The person Bart had refused was Dolph Emmerson.

Bart pointedly said that he'd be a bad influence in this trial while Mr. Gweeble debated that with the notion that Mr. Emmerson is in no way related with this particular trial.

"Bite me, Gweeble!" Bart fumed.

Judge Snyder banged his gavel.

"Mr. Simpson, anymore out bursts like that and I'll hold you in contempt, got it?"

Bart gloomily nodded.

The judge allowed Dolph to be a juror and the rest of the day Bart had gotten about half of the people he wanted on the jury pool.

Maggie was in Ogdenville where she was having her bike serviced and her tires aligned. She opened up her map as she was being served a slice of pie at a local diner.

She'd been traveling for a day and six hours and finally stopped for gas and maintenance. North Haverbrook was where she was heading; the only place where she knew Gina would be at. Maggie was determined to confront the woman and have her come back and give an apology to her family and Bart for what she'd done.

After finishing her pie and coffee, the mechanic next door came in and let her know that her cycle was finished and she paid him off with a handful of beaten up bills.

Maggie didn't really know why she was traveling this far to see Gina; maybe she was insane.

After loading up on her bike, Maggie was soon set out on the road, what lay ahead, she wasn't sure.

It was the mid-afternoon and Bart was thankful that the whole jury selection had been done and over with. Gweeble had been a relentless pain in the ass. Not only, had Gweeble been obscure with his choices of witness' to be on the behalf of Jessica, he had also given Bart the news of them later than he should have.

Looking over the list, Bart was both confused and amazed by the choices Gweeble had made. Ralph Wiggum's name was on the list. Bart really wasn't sure what direct point Gweeble would have with him and, knowing Ralph, what means Gweeble would have on making Ralph's testimony being authentic.

Bart was tired. His mind ached from trying to figure out his opponent's strategy and then formulating his own based on that. The problem was Gweeble didn't have a clear strategy, at least not from his choices of witness. This was aggravating Bart and to be honest…he was scared because of it. It felt like being naked in a courtroom, to be totally exposed to ridicule and judgement, and being powerless to do anything about it.

Sitting alone in his office, Bart looked over the witness' again and again until his eyes started to strain.

_What the hell am I going to do?_ Bart asked himself.

He looked at the clock, he was supposed to meet Alex in thirty minutes for dinner. His first thought was to cancel and focus his mind and energy on the case at hand. His stomach told him otherwise as it growled loudly.

Heaving a loud sigh, Bart turned off his laptop and went out the door.

Alex fumbled in the Simpson's kitchen murmuring and berating herself, quietly.

_What the hell possessed me to do this? I can't cook worth a damn!_

She had told Bart that she was going to cook dinner for him out of affection, disregarding the fact that in High School she nearly burnt down the Home Ec. Room while trying to make cookies.

Laid out in front of her was Marge's cookbook. Marge and Homer were asleep and Lisa wasn't home when Alex got back from the grocery store.

Looking at the instructions for the Salisbury Steak, which was a favorite of Bart's, she had nearly all of the ingredients in the dish, except breadcrumbs. Looking around the Simpson's house the only thing she could find was whole bread.

Alex sighed as she took it from the breadbox, sliced a couple of slices, and started tearing at the sliced bread pieces and then put them in the mixture.

Turning the oven on to 360 degrees, Alex put the mixed batter on the meat patties and then placed it into the oven.

Looking at the clock, she still had twelve minutes until Bart was going to arrive.

She turned on the TV and watched Kent Brockman make his usual guff at some poor besmirched man. She noticed them talking a little about Bart's trial but, and this was always the case with this radical town, didn't give statistics or facts of the trial. Instead, Kent started interviewing every slack-jawed idiot he could find.

"_Well, I don't rightly know there, Mr. fancy-pants-news-man, sir. I'm a guessin' that there woman might be the winner, now when they get to the mud wrestelin' is another question, ya know?"_ Cletis grinned big for the cameras.

Alex was about to change the channel when she started sniffing the air.

Something was burning.

Going back into the kitchen, she noticed red light coming from the stove door. Opening it, to her horror, she found out that pieces of bread she had used, fell to the bottom of the oven near the rings and had ignited.

Looking all over the kitchen, she had found no fire extinguisher. Alex ran to the fridge and found a large bottle of Avian water. Pouring it onto the open flames made the flames rage even more and bite back at her.

Alex looked at the bottle, there was a note there, from Homer, saying, "Everclear, not water."

"D'oh!" Alex emitted aloud. She then stumbled more around the kitchen, looking for baking soda, until she heard a car enter the driveway.

_Oh no!_ She thought. Knowing it was Bart, Alex ran out of the kitchen and headed out the door, just as Bart was walking up the path way.

Alex tried her best to be non-chalant, when greeting him.

"Hey, Bart, I know I said I'd cook you something, but I'm thinking let's go eat out, instead."

Bart looked surprised but shrugged and led her to his car just as they heard Homer wailing.

"Sweet, merciful, crap! What the hell happened in here!"

Which was proceeded by Marge; "Homer! Did you sleep-cook again?"

Bart and Alex drove to the Krusty Burger. After ordering, Bart and Alex sat and talked about the trial Bart was working on.

"Ralph Wiggum?! Are they serious? That boy can't even remember his house number on most occasions." Alex said in bewilderment.

Bart nodded, "Which makes this case all the more harder. I can't seem to find what exactly Gweeble and Jessica are planning using him as a witness to both accounts for her not having either of us kidnapped or me having sexually harassed her. I know for a fact that Ralph has never dropped by my office, was he there that night at the Maison Derriere?"

Alex shook her head; "No, Lisa and I never saw him there. But, then again, the place is rather big, if he had been there then it's news to me."

Bart shook his head, "Well, I guess I'm just going to have to wait and see what there planning for me tomorrow."

As their meals came, Bart and Alex went on to different topics that involved the two of them going to the next Hullabalooza, which would be in Springfield within a few weeks.

After dinner, they went to the movies to see Space Mutants XVII, the whole time; Alex closed her eyes and clutched onto Bart's arm.

The next day, Lisa, who had spent the previous night with Alison, the two of having made plans to spend time together; opened the morning mail as she was waiting for the coffee to be ready.

The first three were for Homer, the next to for Maggie, and then the last one for Lisa.

Lisa starred at the handwriting, identifying it quickly as her mysterious Casanova.

Opening the letter she read the usual poetic love turns, when she got to the bottom however, she dropped the letter.

Picking the letter back up, Lisa reread the last entry.

"_Wanna meet? If so here's my disposable cell number, 555-6384."_

Lisa sat down at the table and put her hands against her face, worrying and wondering what she should do. Her first impulse was to tell the guy "no" and that she liked the way things were going with this anonymous, weird, understanding that they've had before.

Lisa sighed. She hadn't been on a date in over seven years; it'd be good to get back on the horse, again.

Then again, like Alex had told her before, this could be a bad idea. This could be a guy watching her right now with a telescope and a box of doughnuts in front of him.

Lisa looked again at the letter. This guy has been talking to her since High School and she has never tried to stop him from making these letters to her nor has she tried to contact him to establish anything further than what they already had. What risk would there be just to talk to the guy and get to know him a little better? Lisa hoped none.

Grabbing the telephone she dialed the number that was on the page.

The first witness for the otherside is usually the first look into the other's case, as Bart was told. In this case, however, such a wild card, an odd ball, of a person to pick was Ralph Wiggum.

As Ralph took the stand, he made his usual happy-totally-unaware-of-what's-happening smile at everyone.

The bailiff walked over with a bible and Ralph put his hand on it and lifted his other one in the air.

"Do you swear that the testimony your about to give will be the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you God?"

Ralph looked at him, quizzically, "The name's Ralph, mister."

Judge Snyder sighed, "The court will accept this answer, Mr. Gweeble, you may proceed."

Gweeble nodded, "Thank you, your Honor. Mr. Wiggum, were you there of the night of August 21st at the Maison Derriere?"

Ralph nodded, "I was there to help Daddy sneak looks at undressing ladies, one of them saw us and we had to run. It was fun."

Everyone within the courtroom made various noises of both astonishment and disapproval toward that statement.

Mr. Gweeble, not having been taken back by what Ralph had said, continued.

"Tell me, Ralph, did you see my client, Miss Lovejoy there?"

Ralph shook his head, "Nope. Sorry, Mr. lawyer-man, I didn't."

Mr. Gweeble nodded. "No further questions, your Honor."

The Judge nodded, "Mr. Simpson, your turn."

Bart exhaled and adjusted his tie as he walked up to Ralph.

"Hi, Ralph."

Ralph grinned. "Hi Bart. I know you from school."

Bart smiled, "That was a long time ago, Ralph. Tell me, did you, or your dad, go anywhere else besides the place where the ladies were changing?"

Ralph shook his head, "No sir. After that, we went to Dairy Queen for milkshakes."

Bart nodded, "Then, Miss Lovejoy could have been in there and you wouldn't have seen her at all, huh?""

Ralph nodded and then clutched at his groin, "Can I go to the potty room, now. Bart?"

Bart smiled, "No further questions, your Honor."

The Judge let the squirming Ralph go.

Bart was sure that he'd convinced the jury that the whole line of questioning Ralph was useless on the account of that him and his dad were only in one place, but it still bothered Bart. Why go to all the trouble having Ralph as a witness if he really wasn't a witness to anything? Gweeble didn't even bother to try and have Ralph testify that he saw Bart harass Jessica. What were they planning?

"Mr. Gweeble call your next witness." Said the Judge.

Gweeble stacked a few of his papers at his desk and then cleared his throat before he stood up.

"Your Honor, we call to the stand, Mr. Michael Williams."

A gasp let out in the courtroom as a man coming in from the two double doors, looking extremely full of himself, was Michael.

Maggie arrived into North Haverbrook within the last two minutes. She decided to ask around town since Gina, at least to Maggie's knowledge, hasn't been here for ten years. The last time Gina had been to locate a man who knew where her biological parents were. The man turned out to be a fake, but, when she and Bart were here both had said they really liked it and would consider it an alternative place to live other than Springfield.

Stopping at a café, Maggie walked inside and stopped a waitress who was bussing a table.

"Excuse me, miss, but have you seen a woman around here, recently? Her name is Gina and she has long black hair with a single purple streak."

The waitress, whose name was "Tess" thought for a moment and then pointed to a cook in the back.

"Ask Gus, He'd know more than I would, seeing as how he flirts with everything on two long legs that comes into this joint."

Maggie thanked her and then proceeded to the counter. Sitting down, Tess came back and gave her a menu, "Anything I can give you, whilst you here, hon'?"

Maggie smiled, "Just coffee, please."

As Tess left, Maggie looked behind the place she was at and saw a rather buff man in his late thirties with a ratty mustache call out orders he'd prepared.

"Hey, Tess! I gotch'er Wild Omelet ready! Pick it up, why don'tcha!"

Maggie cleared her throat to let herself known, "Excuse me, Gus?"

Gus turned to Maggie and narrowed his eyes, "What do you want?"

Maggie had been rough-talked before, and this man was hardly a contender.

"I want some answers, first of all. Have you seen a woman named Gina, around town? Black hair with a purple streak?"

Gus rubbed his stubbled chin as he thought.

"Gina…Gina…Hey, yeah, I do remember. Nice body; too stupid though."

Maggie was surprised by this comment. "Why do you say that?"

"Cause, that woman was smart enough to rob the local Gas-n-Fast and then spend the money here. She got arrested yesterday and is now in lock up."

Lisa and Alex arrived to the courtroom just as Michael "Baby Tony" Williams took the stand.

Both Alex and Lisa starred daggers at this guy. Bart had told them who was in that room when they administered that drug on Bart. Lisa especially hated him for turning into the person she had tried desperately hated. When they were younger she tried to help him steer away from his father's career and go into cooking. Michael was just putting her on, though.

Alex looked at Bart, who was looking agitated but trying his best not to show it. The two of them didn't get much sleep on the account of…

"Mr. Williams would you call Mr. Simpson a liar!" Mr. Gweeble asked, thunderously, interrupting Alex's thoughts.

Bart stood up, "Objection! Your Honor, what's the relevance of this?"

Mr. Gweeble shrugged, "Mr. Simpson's going to attack my client's creditability, your Honor, it's only fair if I do the same."

Judge Snyder thought for a moment and then looked to Bart, "Plaintiff's objection's denied, you may proceed, Mr. Gweeble. But with caution."

Mr. Gweeble nodded, "Thank you, your Honor. Mr. Williams?"

Michael thought for a moment, "Well, for the most part, yeah. He made a statement in the Springfield Gazette saying he was "going to get rid of organize crime. No way was he going to be in a world with it." When I was a kid, he used to work for my dad at one point, running races for him and doing bar work. Mr. Simpson's also helped countless mob supporters."

_Uh oh._ Alex thought. This certainly wasn't good for Bart's case.

_How is he going to counter this statement?_

Mr. Gweeble smiled, "That'll be all, your Honor. Your witness, Mr. Simpson."

Bart buttoned his coat and walked up to the stand.

"Mr. Williams, were you there at the Maison Derriere on August 21st?"

Michael smiled, "Yeah, I was there. Playing poker with the fella's."

"Uh huh." Bart said in a mock, understanding, tone. "Anywhere else? On the second floor, perhaps? Attending a wedding for a certain friend?"

Michael shook his head, "Nope. Just playing cards with the boys."

Bart waived a dismissive hand; "I have no further questions for this man, your Honor."

The Judge nodded and then said aloud, "We'll recess until tomorrow afternoon, at that time you may call your next witness, Mr. Gweeble." He then banged his gavel and the court dispersed.

Bart had said he needed to talk with one of his witnesses, so Alex headed back to the Simpson's house with Lisa, instead.

As they were driving back to the house, Alex reminded herself of something she wanted to ask Lisa.

"Hey Lise. I almost forgot to ask; how was your visit with "some-kind-of-wonderful"?"

"It was…interesting. To say the least." She responded after a long pause.

"Uh oh, was he a complete dud?"

Lisa shook her head, "No, he was…it's hard to say, really."

Alex decided to end that part of the conversation and then switched to, "Is he anyone I know?"

Lisa closed her eyes, momentarily. "Yes and no."

Alex was getting a little annoyed that her friend was beating around the bush and not being honest with her.

"Well? C'mon, Lise. Who is he?"

As Lisa parked the car in front of the house, she turned to her friend and said; "It's Nelson Muntz, Alex."

Maggie had checked into a hotel late that evening. So far she now knew where Gina was and now was able to question her. But, Maggie would do that tomorrow.

Getting undressed from what she'd been wearing since earlier that morning, Maggie took a quick shower and put on the hotel's complementary robe and then settled into bed with her book "Sex, drugs, and cocoa puffs: A cultural manifesto". It was only when looking at the clock, she reminded herself that she hadn't talked to her family since she hit the road.

She was a little apprehensive about calling Bart, to whom she would've called first. In the end she settled on calling the house.

The phone rang for several times until Lisa had picked up.

"Hello?"

Maggie smiled, "Hey, Sis. How's the battle going on down there?"

"Maggie? Where are you! Mom's worried sick. Dad says he's going to look in every manhole for three states until he finds you. Are you okay?"

Maggie sighed, "I'm fine. I'm in North Haverbrook at the Red Lion Hotel. I've found Gina. She's locked up in the local jail for robbery."

"Serves her right. Are you coming home, soon?"

Maggie shook her head, "Not until the day after tomorrow, I have…uh…business here in town." Maggie could hear her sister sigh on the other end.

"Well, I'm glad to know you're okay."

Maggie smiled, "I've always been okay, Lise. How's Bart's trial going?"

"Well, Ralph was kind of a weird witness that Jessica brought up. He didn't have much value to be used by her side. Michael, however, really ruined Bart's image. Jessica and her lawyer are trying to destroy the image Bart's made up for himself."

Maggie gritted her teeth, "That bitch…"

"I know. Tomorrow they'll bring up their next witness. I pray to Buddha that it's someone Bart can handle."

Maggie nodded, "I'll pray too. Anything you want me to pass on to Gina when I visit her tomorrow?"

There was a pause and then, "Tell her, I'm sorry my brother wasn't good enough for her to be a better person for. Tell her, that he's now with someone who both appreciates having him in her life and is willing to do anything for him."

Maggie nodded, "Okay. How is, uh, Alex doing?"

Maggie had never commented about Alex, other than knowing she was her sister's best friend and now, to the surprise of Maggie, her brother's girlfriend, Maggie didn't know much about her. Alex, in the past, had always seemed a little self-absorbed with how she looked and with a whole ego Maggie wasn't sure she liked.

"She's fine, I guess. She's worried about this case and its affect on Bart. Do you want me to tell her you said hi?"

Maggie thought for a moment and then said, "Yeah. Tell her I said hi and that I hope she's doing well."

The two Simpson sisters then said their good-byes to each other and Maggie hung up the phone.

Her telling Lisa to say hi to Alex was more for Bart than it was for Alex. Maggie reluctantly accepted the idea of Bart and her, more than she would of Bart and Jessica, this being the lesser of two evils. Maggie was determined to make peace with her brother and she knew that letting him get whiff of the fact that she approved of his current choice of girlfriend was the first step.

Maggie, again, looked at the clock and decided it was time to go to bed.

Bart had arrived home at the Simpson's house just as Lisa had gotten off the phone with Maggie.

"Who was that?" Bart inquired.

"Maggie. She's in North Haverbrook and Gina's back in jail."

"Good place for her." Bart sighed as he took off his jacket. "Is Alex up?"

Lisa shook her head; "She went to bed an hour ago. Maggie says hi to the both of you, so you know."

Bart then smiled, "I'm happy to hear it."

The two Simpson children then sat at the kitchen table and shared some red wine together.

"So, Bart. How does this case look to you so far? Do you think it's still strong?" Lisa asked pouring another glass.

Bart sighed and then shrugged, "I don't know, really, it's still too early to tell. Michael's testimony really shook things up. Mr. Gweeble's next witness proves to even more interesting."

Lisa didn't have to ask who that person was. Looking at Bart's face she could already tell. Tomorrow, Bart would have to face Jessica Lovejoy.

Maggie got up the next morning and drove all the way across town to the North Haverbrook police department.

Signing in, she was met by inquiringly looks by the police officers at the station.

"What business do you have with Miss Darrlow?" Asked the officer.

"Personal." Maggie replied courteously.

The officer didn't ask any more and led Maggie to the back of the station to the cells.

Leading down a dark corridor, they stopped at the last cell where a still sleeping Gina was awakened as the guard unlocked the cell and let Maggie in.

"You have five minutes, Miss Simpson."

Maggie nodded and then turned to Gina who just sat on her bunk looking at her.

"Hi." Maggie said.

Gina didn't respond. She just got up and went to the barred window looking out.

"What are you doing here, Maggie?" She asked.

Maggie sighed and sat down at the foot of the bed, "I don't know, actually. I thought seeing you would present an answer, but still, I don't know."

Gina, with her back still to her, heaved a loud sigh, "I guess you've heard what they're saying about me here."

Maggie nodded, "Why'd you do it?"

Gina then spun around and looked defiant.

"Do it? I didn't do anything! Not this time, at least."

Maggie rolled her eyes, "Gina, do you expect me to believe you after you've lied to me? You promised. You promised me you were not going to hurt Bart or my family any more than you've already had. Now, you're in here for robbing a gas station and you say you didn't do it. Who are you trying to convince, yourself or me?"

Gina didn't say anything more. She slumped down on the bed and put her head in her hands and shook her head.

"I've made a mess of my life, huh?"

She then looked up at Maggie and gave a pleading look, "Maggie, I'm sorry. About everything. About how I was naïve to think that money was more important than a family that accepted me even more than my adopted one. I have to say, girl, _you_ are the best part of that family. Blowing it with you…" She stopped and closed her eyes.

"I'm not a good person, Maggie. I've tried but in the end…heh, look where I end up." She indicated towards her environment.

Maggie put a hand on Gina's, "I…I believe you. I'm struggling with this and I need you to be there. I know you're a good person Gina, but I need you to recognize this for yourself and be more honest with me and everyone."

Gina smiled, "That's a pretty tall order, Simpson."

Maggie smiled, "I know." She then sighed, "Now tell me, what is it that makes you innocent in this crazy town?"

As Jessica Lovejoy took the stand, Bart could swear it looked as though Satan himself was walking out of hell and up onto Earth.

After being sworn in, Jessica gave a malicious grin towards Bart and mouthed again, "You-are-mine".

Mr. Gweeble walked up, "Miss Lovejoy, can you recall the night of August 14th?"

Jessica nodded, "Yes sir, it was the night Mr. Simpson and I had at Moe's."

Mr. Gweeble nodded, "What happened that night?"

Jessica batted her eyes then said, "Well, after work, Mr. Simpson was very tired and I thought the two of us could unwind after the day, so we went to Moe's and had some drinks. Afterwards, well, Mr. Simpson became very _affectionate._"

Alex, who was sitting at the back of the court, could swear that Jessica was looking directly at her when she made that statement. More and more, did Alex dream that Lisa had done more damage to that atrocious little whore, than just punching her.

Mr. Gweeble began pacing and then pointed to Bart, "Did or did not Mr. Simpson want more from you when you told him that you've decided that the two of you should just be friends?"

Jessica looked down in mock sadness, "He…he did."

Mr. Gweeble went up and patted Jessica's hand, "That'll be all, your Honor. We rest."

The Judge nodded, "Mr. Simpson, your witness."

Lisa clutched Alex's hand as they watched Bart walk up to the stand.

Bart took a deep breath, "Miss Lovejoy, do you remember about seventeen years ago, at the Springfield Church, what happened?"

Jessica looked up at Bart with a reluctant admitting look, "Yes."

Bart nodded, "What happened?"

Jessica looked away, "I…I stole the church's money."

Again, Bart nodded, "Whom did you blame for it?"

Jessica didn't answer, just mumbling something incoherent.

"Answer the question, Miss Lovejoy." Said the Judge.

Jessica, venomously, looked at Bart. "You."

Bart smiled, "And here you are blaming me again for something. How can I, and this court, believe you?"

Jessica smiled again, "Because, Mr. Simpson, everyone here knows, as well as I do, that "little Bart Simpson" can't always be good. Something comes along to make him _bad_ again. That just so happens to be me. Sure you wear a suit now, but deep down inside you're still the little hellion that Springfield remembers all too well." She flashed a look to the jury and then back to Bart, "Telling you "no" only makes you hungrier for something you can't have. Me. And right now you're spinning tales of me having you and that little tart kidnapped just so you can't look yourself in the mirror and realize that you've become exactly what you wanted to be: a bad boy. You're bad, Bart Simpson, bad to the bone. But, you're also a fiend whose sexually harassed me." Jessica gave another evil grin.

Bart found himself lost for words.

"Mr. Simpson, do you have anymore questions for Miss Lovejoy?" Judge Snyder asked.

Bart shook his head and went back to his seat.

"Miss Lovejoy, you are excused. We'll break for tomorrow, and then Mr. Simpson can bring forth his first witness." Said the Judge and then he banged his gavel several times.

Both Alex and Lisa exchanged worried glances and both looked at Bart whose eyes they couldn't read as he was writing down notes on his legal pad.

A/N: Well that's Jessica's turn, will Bart have a better comeback? Is Gina really innocent? Will Lisa discover more than meets the eye on Nelson Muntz? Find out this and more on the next exciting chapter of Bart Simpson: Attorney at Law!!!

A/N II: Hey, let me know what chapter you guys like the best. I'm curious.

Q-n-P


	12. The Trial: Part Two

It was eleven o'clock at night in Springfield but all was not as peaceful as it should be. After the ending of the first part of the trial a lot of people, especially those who had betted on Bart winning this trial, had gathered outside of Moe's and they were attempting to break in.

The leader of this group looked over his shoulder to make sure they weren't seen. Taking a pick, he jimmied the lock and the group all went into Moe's.

Going inside, they searched the area turning over tables, going behind the bar and searching, searching for the money Moe had taken from them for Bart's winning this trial.

Coming up empty, the group sat down at a table.

"So, what now?" Asked one of the members to the leader.

He sighed, "Well, since we can't get our money back, there's only one solution left."

**Chapter 12: The Trial: Part Two.**

Maggie Simpson awoke later than she had planned and she cursed herself for it. Putting on some clothes she exited her hotel and headed for the jail. When she arrived, she was surprised to see a large gathering of people outside of the jail.

People were holding up signs and gave way to angry yellings as the warden of the cell, calmly, walked out to meet them.

"What's this all about?" He asked the crowd.

A short man with thin rimmed glasses walked forward and shook his fist and pointed at the Warden.

"We demand that you give us that little wench so we can do a proper beating!"

The Warden crossed his arms, "Ain't happenin, Pete. Miss Darrlow is a goin to stay here. Now, you folks go on back home."

A woman then came up, "I'm surprised at you, Roger. That little thief robbed us and you are giving her a slap on the wrist!"

"Now, Evelyn, don't you start with me now. The law's the law, ain't no one goin to change that."

Pete walked up to the Warden, "Now listen here, Roger. Either give her to us or we'll storm right in there and take her ourselves."

Maggie had enough.

"Hey! She deserves the right to a fair trial! Leave her alone!"

The crowd turned and gave nasty looks to Maggie.

"Who's the whelp?" asked someone in the crowd.

Maggie nervously chuckled to herself while the crowd then returned their attention back to the Warden.

"Look Roger, there ain't going to be a trial, not as long as we are a stand'n. You have two days to give us her or we'll burn your precious jail to the ground, her along with it." Said Pete. After that the whole group disbanded leaving Maggie in awe of what she heard.

When she entered Gina's cell, she found her tucked away in a small corner.

"How're you doing?" Maggie asked.

Gina sat on her bed and sighed, "I could be better if it weren't for these damn stupid people acting this way!"

Maggie nodded, "I caught the floor show outside. What is up with this town?"

* * *

Bart was at Barney's Bowl-O-Rama with Milhouse and Richard. He had protested being here considering tomorrow he'd have to bring forth his witness and try to steer the case away from Jessica and her lawyer. 

Alex was the one who had talked Bart into going, he did admit that after Jessica's little act, he needed to cool down his mind.

After sinking in his ninth gutter ball, Bart hated to admit he was terrible at this game, he decided to call it a night.

Walking down the street Bart was only halfway when he saw a firetruck blaring its siren. Bart looked to the direction it was headed and quickly followed in pursuit. He followed it for a block and a half until he came to its destination. The Court House.

Meanwhile, halfway down the block, Moe and Barney, both having their clothes burnt, were running to Moe's.

"You know, Moe, I think maybe we used a little too much booze on that place. I thought you only wanted to burn the little girl's desk?"

Moe grunted as he ran, "Well, it back fired and we have to live with it. Don't worry, Barn', cause that was only part one of this operation."

Alex and Lisa were watching a movie, when Homer came in yelling, "Hey, Marge! Come down quick! I think someone has found the dog!" Homer changed the channel on the TV, which showed Kent Brockman in front of the smoldering courthouse.

"Aw, nuts." Homer said as he slumped down next to the girls.

_This is Kent Brockman with an alarming report! The Springfield Municipal Courthouse has been burnt down! An eyewitness is here with us today who can give us his viewpoint. Sir?_

Comicbook Guy, holding a camera, coughed, "_Yes, I can. I was out here updating my website_, ___ when I saw a vagrant in the shadows setting the court ablaze. He might have been __Pyro _or Johnny Blaze, which one, I don't know." 

_Kent Brockman nodded, then returned to the camera._

_____We have footage from this available and if you know this person contact police immediately._

___The picture then went to a man standing in the shadows burping. _

Aww, they'll never catch him! Look at him. He's a master of disuguise. It's probably Flanders." Homer said shaking his fist at the screen.

Lisa rolled her eyes, "Dad, Ned Flanders is dead, remember?"

Homer thought for a moment, "D'oh!"

Alex pointed at the screen, "Look! There's Bart!"

_____Mr. Simpson, this is surely an odd coincidence. Case not going well?_

Alex barred her teeth in anger. She always hated Kent for playing the upper hand

_Bart shook his head__; "I'm here like everyone, Kent. This will neither help my case nor Jessica's."_

___Kent didn't seem to agree with Bart's honesty and decided to push on to another onlooker._

* * *

The next day, It was decided that the court would take place inside the bowling alley, much to the dismay of Judge Snyder who took the whole thing rather disgruntly.

Everyone was waiting for Jessica's attorney to arrive.

"Miss Lovejoy, where's your attorney? Will he be with us today?" Asked the Judge.

Jessica looked sheepishly around, "I know he'll be here soon, your honor."

Bart grinned at the fact that Jessica was being put into a bad position.

Soon, the doors opened and a ragged looking Mr. Gweeble was panting as he took his seat.

"Sorry I'm late, your Honor. Someone had taken the tires off my car, so I had to immediately run here."

Judge Snyder rolled his eyes, "Mr. Gweeble, I don't care for your excuses. I expect you to be here on time, is that understood?"

"Yes, your Honor." Said Mr. Gweeble, sheepishly.

The trial then began. Bart called his first witness, Moe.

Moe walked up to the podium as the bailiff took out a bible.

"Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. So help you, God?"

Moe shrugged, "Yeah, sure, whatev'ah."

Bart walked up to Moe, "Mr. Syzlack, do you remember what occurred in the night in question?"

"Yeah. Me and Barn was fogging out my bar from the bats that had come in when we had gotten a call that you were being held up at the booty place."

"The Maison Derriere." Bart corrected him.

Moe nodded.

"Who was it that called you?" Bart asked.

"An anonymous Joe, he said he needed to hurry." Moe was sweating a lot.

Bart nodded, "And when you got there what did you find?"

"We both found you and yer girl tied up in rooms."

Bart sighed. He knew this was going to be easier with Moe's testimony.

"Thank you, Moe. Your witness."

Bart stood down as Mr. Gweeble stood up and adjusted his tie.

"Mr. Syzlack, is it true that there are a lot of people who are interested in this trial?"

Bart stood up, "Objection! What's the relevance to this?"

Mr. Gweeble gave an evil grin, "Mr. Syzlack here is a well known bookie. A lot of outside interest is going into this trial and his bar is one of their favorite hangouts."

Judge Snyder nodded, "Objection denied, please continue Mr. Gweeble."

Mr. Gweeble turned back to Moe, "Well?"

Moe shifted in his seat as he tried to loosen his collar.

"Yeah, I suppose so."

"Has anyone paid you for your testimony today?"

Bart stood up again, "Objection!"

"Withdrawn." Mr. Gweeble said and he sat down.

Alex felt this wasn't going so well. She wondered who Bart's next witness would be.

* * *

Sitting with Gina in her cell, Maggie was overwhelmed by how this town was treating her. Two minutes ago, someone tried throwing in a maltov cocktail only to have the bars of the cell bounce it back at it's owner.

Gina was pacing back and forth; "I need to get out of here, before they kill me."

"When's your court date?" Maggie asked.

Gina sat down and shook her head, "There isn't going to be any. This town will never have it."

"My God! This town is worse than Springfield! At least there you're given a few days notice before they tell you you're not going to be given a trial." Maggie fumed as she sat down next to Gina.

Gina nodded. "I don't know what to do, Mags'. I've thought about escaping, but my hair pins don't work against that cell door and even then I'd have to try to get by that idiotic sheriff." Gina put her hands to her face and cried. "I wish Bart was here, at least then I'd have a good chance of getting out of this mess. But I blew it. I'm going to die in here, I just know it."

Maggie petted her head as she thought long and hard.

She then smiled. "I think I know of a way to get you out."

She left and then two hours later came back to the cell with two wigs, one matched her own hair while the other matched Gina's.

"Maggie, what…?" Gina began to ask only to be quieted by Maggie as she slipped the blonde wig onto her friend's head.

Maggie stood back and examined it.

"Perfect. Now, you and are the same size, correct?"

Gina stared at her for a second until she realized what Maggie's plan was.

"Yes. Yes, I think we are."

Maggie nodded and soon the two had changed clothes and had on their wigs.

"Guard!" Yelled Maggie.

The sheriff came over to unlock and was surprised when Maggie banged against the door, knocking over the sheriff and she quickly ran her way out.

With the Sheriff in hot pursuit, Gina, dressed as Maggie, quickly slipped out of the cell and was out of the building.

Meanwhile, downtown, a lot of the townspeople were able to catch glimpse of the Sheriff chasing after the wanted woman. Maggie soon found herself being chased by practically the whole town. Cutting into an alleyway, she took off the wig and stripped down to her underwear. A sleeping vagabond was nearby and she quickly relieved him of his jacket, but was careful enough not to do it so abruptly as to wake him.

The mob soon found their way into the alley and Maggie slumped down next to the bum and extended her hand at the people.

"Any of you fine people have a quarter?" She asked.

None of the group paid her any attention, only murmuring in disgust at the fact they lost their prisoner.

* * *

Bart was worried sick. First off, Barney had taken the stand but during mid-questioning fell off the podium and into a drunken slumber. The Second was, was that Dr. Nick Riviera, being his last witness, hadn't shone up.

"Mr. Simpson, how long are we going to have to wait?" Asked Judge Snyder.

"Not long, your Honor." Bart replied as he feverishly looked to the back door.

Just then, Al, the owner of the bowling place, dragging behind him an oxygen tank, went up to the judge and whispered into his ear.

"Fine." The Judge told him, he then looked at the everyone who was seated in folding chairs, "We've been given notice that the Huntzberger's bowling party and the Gilmore's party are waiting to bowl, so we're going to go to recess until tomorrow. Hopefully, Mr. Simpson, your witness will be on time." The Judge banged his gavel.

As everyone left, Alex quickly walked up to Bart and planted a kiss on him before asking, "Bart, what happened to your witness?"

Bart glared at Jessica and Gweeble talking at their table.

"I can only guess."

Alex looked in Bart's direction and sighed, "They're behind this, aren't they?"

Bart sighed as he gathered his things, "Just goes to show on what you can do if you have the support of the Mafia at your disposal."

The two of them left as a bunch of surly rich people came in with matching bowling jackets.

When they were outside, Bart looked around, "Hey, Alex, where's Lisa? Didn't she come with you?"

Alex shook her head, "No. She didn't. She's on her date with Nelson."

Bart then laughed, which surprised Alex.

"Wow, so he finally did it, huh?"

"Did what?" Alex asked, surprised.

"Nelson's been pining after Lisa since the sixth grade. He thought once his Internet Company reached over a quarter of a million in sales that he'd finally have the nerve to ask her out."

Alex stopped the both of them when they reached Bart's car and looked at Bart with an astonished look.

"Excuse me? 'A quarter of a million in sales'? Are you telling me that Nelson's wealthy?"

Bart nodded, "He's only doing his job at Moe's only because he loves it. Nelson wants to keep a low profile so he can still keep his street cred."

Alex shook her head in amazement. "What does he sell?"

"Sports wear. Both he and Jimbo Jones got into it when Jimbo's restaurant got big."

Bart talked about it more when they went back to the house and only stopped when the phone rang.

Picking it up, he was surprised to hear who it was.

"Maggie? Where are you? Are you still in New Haverbrook?"

"I am and I need a favor." Maggie replied on the other end.

Bart sat down at the counter while Maggie let him in on what had happened over the past couple of days.

"Actually, this will do better. Can you ask Gina if she's willing to testify against Jessica?" Bart asked.

"Hold on." Maggie then had a hushed talk with Gina, which Bart couldn't make out.

"She'll be there for you."

* * *

The next day, at the Bowl-o-Rama, The Judge called into order and then turned his attention to Bart.

"Mr. Simpson, will you call your next witness."

Bart then stood up, "Your Honor, I call to the stand, Miss Gina Darrlow."

A gasp came from people in the alley, which echoed throughout the place.

Gina threw her hair back behind her shoulder as she took the podium.

Bart noticed that Jessica looked calm and was in fact smiling. Bart knew that her and Gweeble had a plan to make her seem like an unreliable witness.

After she had been sworn in, Bart walked calmly to the podium.

"Miss Darrlow, is it true that the co-plaintiff, Jessica Lovejoy, acquired your service in an effort to have me kidnapped and held against my will?"

Gina nodded, "Yeah. It is true."

Bart nodded, "Why you?"

Gina sighed, "She learned of me through various people and that I was in jail for attacking my boss. Our agreement was that if she were to get me out of jail then I would help her rein you in. She was planning to have Dr. Nick drug you and the two of you married. Unfortunately, you were not responding to the drugs, as she would have liked. She decided, then, to hold you and have Japanese doctors use brainwashing methods to fill the trick. However, I decided against it and called up Moe to have him and Barney rescue you and Alex, since she had got herself caught."

Bart turned around to Gweeble, "Your witness."

As Bart sat down, he noticed that Jessica's smile had vanished and was replaced by a more concentrated look.

Mr. Gweeble buttoned up his jacket as he walked to her.

"Miss Darrlow, is it true that, if what your saying is true, you're a direct accomplice to Miss Lovejoy's dirty work?"

Miss Darrlow nodded, "Yes. That'd be true."

"Isn't it also true that you were once Mr. Simpson's girlfriend and on one particular evening you wrecked his car because he couldn't make time for you during your relationship with him?"

Gina closed her eyes and sighed; "Yes, that is true also."

Mr. Gweeble gave his biggest smile, yet.

"So, if all that is true, how can we be certain that it wasn't you who had Bart kidnapped and you're blaming it all on Jessica?"

Gina gave a huge grin, "Because…I have proof."

Bart then got up out of his seat and handed a VHS tape to the judge.

"Plaintiff's evidence A, your Honor."

Mr. Gweeble turned white; "Objection your Honor!"

Bart cleared his throat, "The reason this evidence is coming so late, your Honor, is that it wasn't available until a certain time that the Springfield County Jail would allow."

The Judge nodded, "Proceed."

Milhouse dragged in a TV set and VHS player and inserted the tape.

The picture was in black and white but it showed Jessica sitting across a sheet of glass and talking to Gina.

Just as Gina had said the two talked about using Gina as a means of getting Bart and then taking him to the Maison Derriere and drugging him.

"Mr. Gweeble, do you have any more questions for the witness?" Asked Judge Snyder.

Sadly, Mr. Robert Gweeble shook his head.

As he went back to his seat, Bart stood.

"Your Honor, the Plaintiff rests."

Judge Snyder nodded and then turned to the jury, "The Jury may now retire to deliberate the evidence and come up with a verdict."

He banged his gavel several times.

___**To be Continued…**_

___**SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS**_

_**A/N**: My sincerest apologies to everyone whose followed this Fanfic from day one and was patiently awaiting my follow through with another. Sorry it took so long guys. :\_

_**A/N II**: Well, that's it for the trial. Who will win? Bart? Jessica? Is Nelson going to sweep Lisa off her feet? Will Gina be able to escape further torments from North Haverbrook? Find out all this and more on the next exciting chapter of Bart Simpson: Attorney At Law!!!_

_**Q-n-P**_


	13. The Verdict

Walking with Alex, outside at nine o'clock in the morning, Bart felt particularly good to what was about to come, later today.

The two of them had talked about it and despite the fact that Bart was confident in knowing he was going to win, he still was thinking about what he should do if the jury swings towards Jessica.

Bart smiled as the two of them sat down on a bench near the pier and watched the sunrise.

_Now, is not the time to think such things._ Bart thought to himself as he laid his head on top of Alex's.

Alex seemed to be humming and Bart, after realizing what song it was, joined in.

**Chapter Thirteen: The Verdict**

Almost everyone in Springfield was waiting outside of Barney's Bowl-o-Rama, eagerly awaiting the news as to the verdict to the case of Bart Simpson vs. Jessica Lovejoy.

Marge shook her head, as she drove by, seeing the people and a few reporters standing outside the bowling alley.

Marge, at one point, had hoped that the trial would never have come. That Jessica would apologize to her family and that everything would soon get back to normal. With the threats and everything, Marge realized that, in this town, that was impossible.

Pulling into the driveway, of the house, she was greeted by Maggie.

"Need help with any of the groceries, Mom?" She asked.

Marge smiled, "No dear, I think I can get them all."

Maggie still took some and the two of them headed in and put them away.

Homer was sitting on the couch flipping channels and finally stopped when he came to Kent Brockman standing outside of the Bowl-o-Rama.

_This is Kent Brockman, coming to you live at Barney's Bowl-o-Rama, for **Trial Watch 2007**. We are but moments away from the verdict of a lifetime. Who will win? Our panelists have taken a tally of our online users and right now…it's dead even._

Homer thought for a moment, then called out to Marge, "Marge! Who did we vote for? Bart or the Christian chick?"

"Bart, Homer!" Marge called back.

Homer, After noticing a sound coming from outside the house, got up and went outside and watched a handful of cars parked themselves outside near the Simpson's home.

Moe and Barney came out and approached Homer.

"Say, Homer, we just want to tell you that we hope your boy wins today." Moe said.

"Thanks, guys. Say, why are you all dressed up in black? And what's with the hooks and ropes?" Homer asked seeing how Moe, Barney, and Ralph Wiggum, were dressed in black and had ropes and hooks slung over their shoulders.

"Uh, Homer, we need to ask you something." Moe said, and then led Homer over away from the house.

"Me and the guys were thinking that we should get a front row seat and find out whose going to win this? You in?"

Homer thought and then said finally, "I'll do it!"

* * *

Rod and Todd Flanders were watching Homer and the others from the window of their house.

"What do you think they're doing, Todd?" Rod asked.

Todd shrugged, "I don't know. Should we ask Daddy?"

The younger brother thought for a moment and then sighed, "I'm not sure he'll hear us, though."

Todd looked over at the urn that was sitting a top the fireplace along with the family pictures.

"I'll bet they're up to some unholy acts, don't you?" Todd asked.

Rod nodded, "Yeah. That Bart Simpson and his family are true spawns of the devil. Just like that nudist colony that was at the fairgrounds, that Daddy saw. If he hadn't had that heart-attack, at that time, and lived to see this, I'm sure he would have had one from seeing this."

Todd nodded, " I wish that Daddy hadn't had the urge for cotton candy that day."

Just then the phone rang and Todd answered it. After a minute or so, he hung up.

"Bad news, little brother. Our mail-order brides have already been taken."

"Aww, phooey." Exclaimed Rod.

* * *

Lisa Simpson, sitting at the Singing Sirloin, had never, in her life, imagined who'd be sitting across from her.

Nelson had arrived late and apologized and sat down as the two had ordered. As Lisa had expected, Nelson ordered a steak while Lisa had a Greek salad.

After the meal, Nelson snapped a finger to one of their servers.

"Hey, you, buddy, bring over the dessert cart, pronto!"

The server looked nervously at Nelson. "Uh, but sir. We don't serve desserts until dinner time."

Nelson glared at him. "What's your name?"

"C-C-Calvin, sir." He stuttered.

Nelson nodded.

Lisa sighed. She knew what was going to happen next. Once a bully, always a bully.

"Very well, Calvin. But, do you think you can make an exception this time."

Lisa opened her eyes wide and stared at Nelson.

The waiter seemed to do the same.

"Y-Y-Yes, sir. I'll see what I can do." He replied and then walked away."

Nelson held up his glass, "Gotta know how to talk to them."

Lisa did likewise with her glass and the two of them clinked.

Lisa was surprised, not only for the way Nelson had acted when refused something, but everything about him in general.

Their lunch together went off without a problem that Lisa could've foreseen.

The last thing Nelson did that surprised her was that he, not only paid for the dinner, but also tipped the server very generously.

"Nelson? How could you afford to tip him like that? Grant it, his service was better than others, but can you really afford to give what you gave?"

Nelson laid back in his chair and stretched.

"I have news for you, Simpson. That was chump change."

Lisa hooked an eyebrow as she struggled to think on what he meant by that.

Nelson could sense her confusion.

"Let me fill you in." He began.

* * *

Sitting at home with Marge and Alex, Bart went into the fridge and got out two Duffs and then sat at the table with the others.

Marge was knitting, while Alex was reading the paper, Bart smiled at the both of them as he handed Alex her beer.

"So, honey, do you think you'll win today?" Marge asked.

Bart sighed, "I hope so. If not, well, at least I went down fighting."

Alex shook her head, "Don't talk like that, Bart. Of course you'll win. Jessica doesn't have a case against you."

Bart shrugged, "I can bet, though, she's putting an awful lot of money in those jurors' pockets. With Dolph on the jury, he'll try to influence or threaten them into voting for her. I have my doubts."

Marge put away her knitting and walked over and hugged her son.

"They'll look past that, Bart. After all, what does Springfield have to gain, when my itty-bitty Bartty is put away in jail and no-ones left to defend them?"

Bart hugged her back.

When Marge left, Alex got up and put her hand on Bart's shoulder, and she kissed him on the top of his head.

"You'll prevail, Bart. I just know it."

Bart reached up and drew her down for a kiss.

"Thanks." He said.

The rest of the afternoon, Bart spent with Alex. The two of them went over to Alex's building, where, Alex gave Bart an in-depth preview of what the whole line of clothing was going to be like. From there, they went over to meet Laura Powers, who also wished Bart the best of luck.

"Thanks, Laura. I'm still not sure what my chances are, knowing Jessica's power to manipulate."

Laura sighed, "You're pretty manipulative yourself, Bart Simpson. Remember how you got Jimbo to wet his pants in the threat of Moe Syzlack?"

Bart looked at her with curiosity. "How did you know I did that?"

Laura laughed, "C'mon. It was pretty obvious by your smug expression, that evening, that you did it. Besides, I was grateful and didn't want to say anything."

Alex smiled and felt a little envious of the history, no matter brief, that these two shared.

After saying goodbye to Laura, the two then went over to Milhouse and Samantha's for coffee.

It was Alex's idea, to have Bart be distracted by his friends and not dwell so much on upcoming verdict.

While Samantha was showing Alex her sonogram pictures, Milhouse took Bart to his parlor room and the two sat down on Milhouse's stained couch and drank their coffee.

"So, when are you gonna pop the question, Bart?" Milhouse asked, looking over Bart's shoulder at his wife and Alex.

Bart nearly choked on his coffee.

"Excuse me?"

Milhouse smiled, "You KNOW what I mean."

Bart looked at his still-nerdish friend and laughed.

"You've got to be kidding. Propose? We've only been dating for two months! That's cutting it a little early, don'tcha think?"

Milhouse shrugged, "I guess. But, you never know if the right one's going to slip away. I consider myself lucky that Samantha came back into my life those years ago. Alex seems to be the best thing in your life. Don't you want to secure that thought?"

Bart shook his head; "I'm happy right now. Don't start making me chaotic by putting new worries into my head."

The two then went onto different topics, like maybe taking the girls with them to see an Isotopes game.

* * *

Sitting in the cramped, un-air conditioned, shoe-fitting room, of the bowling alley, the jurors sweated as they argued the points of the trial.

The jurors consisted of Seymour Skinner, Apu Nahasapeemapetilon, Otto, Edna Krabapple-Skinner, Roger Meyers Jr., and Dolph Emmerson. The other jurors had thrown in the towel because of the heat in the room.

Skinner was appointed as the lead Juror.  
"So, we've all come to agreement that it's hot as hell in here?" Skinner asked.

"Aye!" Said everyone.

"Now then, in the matter of the trial, I still think that even despite her history, Jessica may not be in the fault, here."

Otto shook his head, "No way, Skinner-man! Little Bart-dude has said, like, that she totally was the bad-ass in this mess!"

Edna sighed, "Well, yes, Bart has accomplished much but I still think he's capable of those things described."

Skinner gave Edna a devious gaze, "You and I should do a little harassing ourselves later, huh?"

Edna laughed, "Ha! You'll still need your "pill", won't you, Seymour?"

Skinner, nervously, chuckled; "Yeah, well, um, never mind."

As the group bickered back and forth, outside, alongside the building, Moe, Homer, Barney, and Ralph, were arguing themselves on how to safely scale the building.

"But falling hurts my skin, mister." Ralph protested at Moe.

Moe shook his fist at Ralph, "I'll tell ya what'll also hurt if you don't get your ass down there!"

As Ralph started to cry, Barney, who had decided to bring a six pack of Duff and two whiskey bottles with them, passed out and fell over the ledge and landed with a thud into the bushes below.

"You see! Barn' s brave enough. C'mon Homer, talk to this kid, won'tcha?"

Homer sighed loudly and then walked over and put a hand on Ralph's shoulder.

"Look, I don't like you and you don't like me."

Ralph smiled, "I like you, Mister Lisa's daddy."

"You do?" Homer asked, surprised.

Ralph nodded.

Moe grunted in anger as Homer and Ralph hugged, and decided to go by himself.

However, once he was on the side of the building, his rope, which was broken and had been held together with scotch tape, broke, and Moe yelled in surprise as he fell down on top of Barney, who replied with a belch.

Looking over the ledge at the two, Barney still in a drunken slumber and Moe giving off pitiful cries of agony.

Homer cringed at the idea of himself taking the chance of scaling the building and decided to pass.

Turning back to the other reluctant participant, he and Ralph walked away.

Back inside, the matter of the trial soon turned into a debate between the prices at the Quick-E-Mart and the Gas-N-Gulp.

"But they never say "Thank You, come again!" there. Do you call that service!" Apu asked shaking his fist.

"Their prices are better, man. You can get preemo ice cream, with, like, fruit and stuff." Otto replied.

Dolph was getting angry. "Enough!" He yelled.

Skinner nodded. "Folks, we need to come to a decision. All of you who are in favor of Bart, raise your hand."

After seeing the number of hands, Skinner nodded.

"Ok, now Jessica."

Again, after counting the number of votes, Skinner nodded in confirmation.

Skinner sighed, "Alright, I'll write down the verdict. Now, Apu's ice cream tastes better, and here's why…"

The discussion reverted back to the heated, pointless, arguement.

* * *

The last place Bart wanted to go, he decided to go alone.

Walking towards the Springfield Super 8 Motel, Bart knocked on the door of room number 14.

The door opened, held back slightly by the chain lock, where Gina looked in surprise at seeing who it was that was visiting her.

"Bart? Hold on a sec'."

After jostling the lock away, Gina led him in.

Bart took notice how clean the place was still, even the bed looked made. He reminded himself, though, that Gina was a neat freak.

Sitting down on the bed, Gina sat down next to him.

"I'm wierded out. I though Maggie was here."

Bart shook his head, "She's working. She told me where you were at."

Gina nodded.

Bart sighed, "I want to say, thank you, Gina."

Gina looked at the floor and didn't respond.

"You not only helped me out at the trail, you also helped me and Alex out of the Maison Derriere."

Gina looked at him, in shock.

How did you know?" She asked.

Bart smiled, "Nelson told me."

Gina returned the smile, "Just like Nelson. Never to hold back anything, even when he's told to keep his damn mouth shut."

The two then sat there for a moment not saying anything.

Then, Gina chuckled.

"What?" Bart asked.

"Do you realize how long it's been since the two of us were near a bed, together?"

Bart soon laughed as well.

Gina then looked at Bart with curiosity.

"So tell me, Bart. When was it that you choose _Fashion Queen_ over the other women?"

"Alex." Bart corrected.

Gina nodded.

Bart sighed, "I've been so tired of always being labeled as the "bad boy". Ever since I was fifteen everyone told me "If you and Gina don't work out you'll probably go over to the 'out' room at the Juvie, to get your next girlfriend." I've always questioned weather or not I'd be able to be with someone less chaotic than myself."

Gina laughed, " 'Less chaotic'? Bart, are you listening to yourself?"

Bart shrugged, "You've been the only girl I've ever dated until two months ago. Someone once told me that habits never die."

Gina shook her head. "Bart. I've got to tall ya, you're the sharpest square, I have ever met."

Bart looked at her with curiosity. "What does that mean?"

"After High School, you became so down in your books and ethics, that, you were no longer 'Bad, bad, Bart Simpson-man'. You became a normal, live-life-like-everybody-person. I was so shocked to see what you had become when I came back to you two years ago."

Bart stood up and walked to the window and sighed, deeply.

"I guess you're right."

Gina stood up and walked next to him; "I guess that's why you like _Fashion…_ excuse me, Alex. Right?"

Bart nodded.

"Well, I can't blame her for liking you back. You do have that "charm"."

Bart looked at her with a cock-eyed expression, "Charm?"

She then slugged him in the shoulder, "Or, she's hopelessly dumb like I was."

* * *

Maggie lit a fresh cigarette as they came out of the car and headed towards the bowling alley.

"Margaret Simpson! Put that out right now! I will not have my family embarrass me while we sit down and be there for the other."

Maggie grunted a curse word as she extinguished her cigarette against her shoe.

Walking into Barney's Bowl-O-Rama, Homer was waiting for Marge, Lisa, Maggie, and Alex. He was waiving his arms, hysterically.

"Hey! Over here! I got us some kick-ass seats!"

Marge sighed in disapproval as others looked at Homer then at them.

Everyone was finally seated and talking amongst themselves until the door opened and Judge Snyder came in and took to his seat in the middle of the bowling lane.

"Bring in the jury." He announced.

The bailiff nodded and walked over to the shoe fitting room and held open the door.

The Jurors all filed in, and all of who had sweat stains all over their bodies.

Otto was wiping at the air in front of his face.

"Man! Just in time; it was beginning to smell fresh in there."

The judge shook his head in disapproval of Otto's loud comment. He then turned his attention to Skinner.

"Mr. Foreman, has the jury reached a verdict?" Asked Judge Snyder.

Skinner wiped some sweat off his forehead as he nodded.

"Yes, your honor."

He then reached into breast shirt-pocket and unfolded the paper.

"We the jury here by declare that Quick-E-Mart's food is safer than the Gas-N-Gulp's. Oops! Sorry, your Honor, wrong one."

Skinner then fumbled all over his clothing trying to locate the verdict.

While Skinner was searching, Jessica glanced over at Bart and mouthed: "I Own You."

When Skinner, out of desperation, took off his pants, to search around, the Judge called an immediate recess.

Bart walked over to Jessica, where Mr. Gweeble looked apprehensive about him being there.

"I just want to say good luck, Jessica."

Jessica fluttered her eyelashes and gave a sneer, "Tell that to yourself, Bart. I don't need it."

Just then, Skinner gave a loud "Aha!" as he had found the verdict, which was surprisingly tucked away in his left sock.

As soon as everyone settled back down again, Skinner rose.

"We find, in the matter of Bart Simpson vs. Jessica Lovejoy…"

Everyone, in the room, held their breath.

Alex, Maggie, and Lisa gripped each other's hands, tightly.

Marge and Homer held eachother tightly.

Jessica leaned forward on the desk.

Bart gripped the table.

The birds outside ceased their singing.

Outside, in the bushes, Barney paused before taking another swig.

Skinner took a deep breath, before continuing.

"We find Bart Simpson…"

Bart closed his eyes.

"We find Bart Simpson not guilty of sexual harassment."

"What!" Yelled Jessica.

"We find Jessica Lovejoy…" Skinner began again. Bart reopened his eyes And look hopefully, at the jury.

"Guilty of kidnapping." Skinner announced.

Jessica flipped over her desk and started shrieking.

Judge Snyder pointed his gavel at Jessica.

"Bailiff, control Miss Lovejoy, won't you?"

The Bailiff hurried over and helped Mr. Gweeble hold down the snarling woman.

The Judge turned back to Skinner.

"Has the jury come up with a suitable punishment?"

Skinner nodded, again.

"Yes we have, your Honor. We hearby announce that Miss Jessica Lovejoy be exiled from Springfield and never to return."

Both Lisa and Maggie smiled at this.

Alex, on the other hand, was looking around. "Hey, I know this is sort of out there, but, where are Jessica's parents?"

Lisa sighed, "They've been at Martha's Vineyard for the past two years. I'm not sure that they even knew she came back to Springfield."

Alex shrugged, "Oh, well. I guess this won't bother them, either way."

Lisa nodded.

To the surprise of all of them, Maggie stood up and shouted, "That's right! Get the hell out of here, you home-wrecking, little, whore!"

Bart smiled at his sister's yelling, and at the day in general.

After the bailiff took the still-struggling Jessica away, the Judge announced the case was adjourned.

Alex rushed up and hugged Bart, knocking him off balance and sending the two of them to the floor.

"Told ya." She said grinning.

The rest of the family soon met them.

"We're proud of ya, boy." Homer said.

Lisa hugged Bart, "I'm so glad it's over."

Maggie, however, was by the entrance calling after Jessica.

"Ha! You lose, loser!"

* * *

While the others had left, Bart and Alex walked away from the bowling alley.

"So, what do you want to do, to celebrate?" Bart asked her.

Alex gave a mischvious grin and went to Lisa car and pulled out two baseball bats.

"Let's paint the town red, Simpson." She said handing him one of the bats.

Bart took a step back and looked at Alex with awe and shock.

"Alex? What are you…"

Alex shrugged, "C'mon, Bart. I know who you _really_ are. I know I've probably come off like a little up tight loser. But, if you'd ask Lisa, you'll find out it's quite the opposite."

Bart looked at the bat and then back at Alex. "Are you sure you want me like this?"

Alex walked up to Bart and kissed him.

"Not always. Every girl needs her bad boy, but every girl also needs her sensible guy, too."

Just then a grin crept its was across Bart Simpson's face. He then tasseled up his hair and swung the bat at a near by, broken down, Oldsmobile.

The two then spent the night beating up wrecked cars on Bumsville and Cracktown.

They spent about two and half-hours causing damage before they called it quits.

Calling a cab, Bart and Alex rode the rest of the way back to his apartment.

They talked along the way, until Alex had fallen asleep.

Bart carried her up the stairs and was able to open his door without awakening her.

Placing her gently on his bed, Bart walked back to his kitchen and opened up the vegetable bin and bent down and took out a small black velvet shaped box.

Bart closed his eyes and made a small hope and prayer in his head as he walked back to the bedroom.

Looking down at Alex's sleeping form, Bart smiled.

_This is the life, isn't it, Bart?_

He then laid the box into her outstretched hand and closed her fingers on it.

Bart, then, laid down next to her and closed his eyes.

_**To be continued…**_

_**SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS **_

**A/N: **Albeit this is a little shorter than what I normally write, but I need to ponder.

**A/N II**: The trial is over, but is the girl-drama truly over for Bart? Will Lisa and Nelson's relationship turn to a worse or better phase? Will Maggie ever quit smoking? And will Moe ever recover from his wounds? Find out next on the exciting chapter of: Bart Simpson: Attorney At Law!!!

_**Q-n-P**_


	14. You've got Blackmail!

Maggie Simpson was walking down Main Street, noticing, as she was walking, the various potholes that had yet to be filled by the city.

As she was walking to the Prancing Phony dance supplies store, a strange man approached her.

"Hey, you the lawyer's sister?" He asked.

Maggie stopped and studied this guy. Seeing he was short, a slight build, a little scrawny, and didn't have a weapon, she decided that he wasn't a threat to her.

"Yeah. What about it?" Maggie replied back.

He then reached into his pocket and brought out several photos and gave them to Maggie.

"Those are copies. We'll be in touch." He then turned and left.

Looking at the photos Maggie looked up to yell at the guy, only to find he had disappeared from sight.

**Chapter Fourteen: You've got Blackmail!**

Alex Whitney walked over to her building to meet with the renovator, to talk about the floor plans, when Maggie who was waiting for her outside of the building met her.

"Maggie? What brings you here?"

Maggie handed her the photos in her hands, and when she looked at them, Alex turned completely white.

"W-Where did you get these?" She asked as she slowly looked at the photos. She soon sat her self down on the curbside.

Maggie sat down next to her.

"Are these real? Did you really do these sort of things?"

Alex took a deep breath and nodded.

"Surviving in L.A. is hard. Sometimes…well, you gotta do what you need to, to survive."

Alex looked approachfully at Maggie. "Who gave these to you?"

Maggie described the physical description of the man.

Alex the buried her face in her hands and shook her head.

"Jeremy." She whispered.

Maggie sat down next to her and patted her on the back, not sure, in what way, as to comfort her.

Knowing Alex through a shred of vague memories, Maggie still, at this moment, didn't really have an opinion about her.

Bart was in love with her that was certain, still she couldn't find a way to identify with this person.

Maggie then noticed a ring that was on Alex's left hand.

"I won't tell Bart, unless you want me to." Maggie said.

Alex looked up. Her eyes swollen with the emotions of fear and confusion were replaced with a sudden, temporary, smile.

"Thank you, Maggie."

* * *

Bart, sitting at his desk, was the happiest he had ever been. Not only did the terror that was Jessica was no longer in his life, but he finally found a new secretary who turned out to be fully qualified.

Her name was Susan, and she had a wedding ring, so that put aside all the nightmares Bart has had lately.

Thinking more on that ring brought Bart back to what had happened earlier this morning.

Alex had awoken and with utter joy found the box Bart had left in her hand and told Bart three words that stuck in his mind.

"I'm all yours."

Bart smiled. To him those words meant everything, especially that they had come from the person he was so madly in love with.

Bart had replied to her with three other words.

"So am I."

Getting up from his desk, Bart turned to face his window, over looking Springfield. The Nuclear power plant clearly visible with its smoke stacks sending out gray clouds to meet their white ones. On the street the strange but vibrant people selling and hocking God knows what to the gullible and weak minded.

Susan knocked on the open door to Bart's office, relieving him of his thoughts.

"You've gotten a letter, Mr. Simpson." She said, and laid the letter on his desk and went back to hers.

Bart walked over to his desk and opened the letter and read the contents of it and then sat back down in his chair.

The letter was a goodbye from Gina.

* * *

Homer woke up on a particularly warm, nice, Saturday.

After taking a power nap, he was ready to meet Barney for fishing, and then planned on heading to Moe's for a little TLC with Duff.

Getting up and putting on his pants, Homer walked out of the house and then stopped.

Homer sniffed the air. "What's wrong with the air? It smells so queer."

Homer then looked to the lawn and shrieked.

Burnt into their lawn, in large capitalized letters, were the words "YOU HAVE WHAT'S MINE, SIMPSON".

Homer looked around and then quickly ran back inside the house.

Panting loudly, Homer walked, quickly, over and took down, off the mantle, a black falcon statue, which was signed, "To Warner Brothers Studio, Best Wishes, Humphrey Bogart" and Homer quickly put it into a box and rushed out the door.

Moment's later, Homer came back inside, leaning against the door, wiping his brow, and exhaling loudly.

Marge came out, from the kitchen, wiping a dish and looked at her husband, curiously.

"Homer? What's wrong?"

Homer started scratching the back of his neck, while trying to come up with a good excuse.

"Ya see, Marge…I…Uh, forgot to put gas in the car for later this week, so I, uh, got some."

Marge looked at him curiously, then smiled.

"Well, good for you, Homer. I'm happy that you're preparing for the next week." She then planted a kiss on his cheek.

Homer exhaled a deep breath after Marge had left. He then went to the garage and got some grass seeds and opened the garage door. Going outside, he started laughing as he put them down on the words on the lawn.

"Homer Simpson, you're a genius." He said self-appreciatively.

Once the words were all filled up, Homer went to get a hose, only to turn back and see a flock of birds swoop down and eat all the seeds.

"What the…?" He asked and then went to the bag, only to find out it was birdseed that he had planted.

"D'oh!" He emitted out loud.

Marge came out of the house.

"Homer, what's the mat…Oh, my lord!" She said as she then saw the words on their lawn.

"Homer what is this?" She asked as she walked over to the portion of the lawn.

Homer started crying, "I don't know."

Marge thought long and hard.

"Well…we know it's probably not about the trial, since it's over, I wonder what it could mean?"

Homer shrugged.

Just then, Alison Taylor pulled up in her car and met Lisa's parents by the lawn.

"Who did this?" She asked.

Both Homer and Marge looked at each other, each shrugging and giving looks of despair.

Alison sat down and used her finger to trace over the lettering.

"Hmm…It's looks as though the person was left handed, and stumbled when he was making the "I"."

Marge looked at Alison, impressed. "Wow. Alison, that is very cleaver. How'd you come up with that?"

Alison shrugged, "Oh, all those CSI episodes, that I used to watch when I was little, I knew would, one day, come in handy."

Homer nodded, "Cop shows. Is there anything they can't do?"

"Why are you here, Alison?" Marge asked.

"I was going to see if Lisa was still here and if maybe she and Alex would like to have a girls night out in Capital City. I guess she isn't here though, right?"

Marge nodded.

"Well, tell her I stopped by and to maybe give me a call." Alison then looked at the lawn, again. "Man, this town gets weirder and weirder by the minute. I hope this isn't anything serious."

Marge sadly nodded, "I'm hoping so, too."

* * *

Maggie sat across Alex, inside Java The Hut's coffee shop, as Alex wearily drank her coffee.

"Thank you for the coffee, Maggie. It's helping." Alex said as she took a sip.

The two of them sat while Alex tried to bring herself back to normal. Since seeing those pictures, she has become a nervous wreck. Always looking over her shoulder and jumping whenever someone talked to her behind her back.

Maggie had stayed and finally took Alex to the Java's.

"So, do you want to talk about it? Talk about him?" Maggie asked.

Alex sighed as she took another sip.

"He was a guy I met when I first arrived in Los Angeles. I was struggling the first two weeks and he offered to help me out, help me get my big break with the fashion industry, there. Jeremy Hawthorne knew a lot of people, unfortunately for me, getting in contact with those people meant doing… favors."

Maggie nodded and ordered another cup, as Alex seemed to be on the verge of another breakdown.

Then Alex put her face to her hands and cried long and hard.

"How. How could that miserable, s.o.b, decide to do this to me?"

Maggie sighed, "Alex…I think you should let Bart know. I mean he's going to find out eventually and I think he could help you."

Alex shook her head as she sobbed.

"I…Can't. I don't want him to know…that part of my past."

To the surprise of Maggie, the very least people she would have suspected to walk in right now, she watched Lisa and Nelson walk in and spot them.

"Maggie? Alex? What are you guys doing here?" Lisa asked.

Alex looked up, her eyes' extremely puffy from crying.

"Alex? What's wrong?" Lisa asked as she removed herself from Nelson and walked over and sat down next to her friend.

Nelson, unsure on what to do, walked away to order him and Lisa some coffee.

Lisa put her hand on her friend's shoulder as Alex wiped her eyes.

"Wow, you and Nelson, huh? Never would have imagined it if I hadn't seen it." Alex said, trying to make a laugh.

Lisa shook her head; "We'll talk about that later, why were you crying Alex?"

Alex sighed, "Show her, Maggie."

Maggie went into her bag and brought out the photos and quickly explained how they came into her possession.

Lisa held a hand to her mouth, in shock, while she thumbed through the photos.

"Oh, my! Alex, are these really you?"

Alex nodded.

Setting them down, Lisa turned to Maggie.

"What does Jeremy want? Money?"

Maggie shrugged, "He didn't say. He only said, "We'll be in touch". I think he's going to come to me again with directions."

Alex sighed, "If even that. Jeremy's never been good at being straight-forward."

"What does Bart have to say about this?" Asked Lisa.

"He doesn't know." Maggie replied as Alex was taking another sip of her coffee.

Nelson joined them as Lisa looked at Alex.

"Alex, you have to tell him. Bart could help you with putting a restraining order against Jeremy."

"You got a guy that's bothering you?" Nelson asked.

Alex nodded.

"Me and my boys could make him disappear, if you want."

"Let's call that option "B", for now. Alex, you need to talk to Bart. I can call him, if you want." Lisa said as she took out her cell.

Just then, her phone rang and Lisa dropped it out of surprise. Nelson retrieved it and handed it back to her.

"Hello?" Lisa answered.

"Lisa? It's Mom." Marge said. "I've been trying to reach your brother but he's in a meeting right now, so I thought I'd give you a call. Are you busy?"

Lisa sighed, "No Mom, not incredibly, what's going on?"

"Your father found that someone vandalized our lawn, last night. Burned the words "You have what's mine, Simpson" in big letters. Lisa, do you know if Bart's in trouble with anyone else?"

Lisa shook her head as she sighed, "No, Mom, I don't think this has to do with Bart, this time."

"Then who could they be referring to? You? Maggie? It's certainly not me or your father." Marge said.

Lisa sighed, "Look, Mom, I'll tell you more about it when I see you two tonight. I can't' talk about it right now."

Marge sighed in acceptance. "Ok. By the way, Alison came by and she wants you to call her when you have the chance."

Lisa nodded, "I'll do that. Bye, Mom." She then hung up her phone and looked to Alex.

"I guessing Jeremy wants you, Alex. He burned a message into Mom and Dad's lawn saying so."

Alex groaned and put her head back into her hands.

"Why don't you want Bart to help?" Nelson asked.

Alex held up her left hand, "Bart proposed to me earlier this morning. After dealing with Jessica he's really content on being trying to be happy for a change, I don't want to change that for him."

Lisa's jaw fell as she looked at he diamond ring on Alex's finger.

"Bart proposed?"

Alex nodded.

Nobody spoke at the table for awhile. Then Maggie suddenly stepped out of the booth.

"Alex, I'm sorry. But if you really want my brother to be happy, you've got to be happy as well, otherwise he'll catch on and wonder why you didn't tell him. And since you're going to be our sister-in-law, then, you've got to know how to step up for yourself. Listen, why don't you let me, Nelson, and a few others find out what Jeremy really wants and we'll see if we can take care of him and get him out of Springfield, so you and Bart have nothing else to be worried by. In the meantime, I agree with Lisa. You need to tell Bart."

* * *

After talking several long hours with Jimbo Jones about franchising rights, and going over the details of the contract that Foodo Corps had drawn out for him to make his business global, Bart was ready to unwind and have a nice peaceful late afternoon.

Jimbo did what he always did, after saying goodbye, which was delivering a jab to Bart's gut. Bart was just thankful that the idiot was paying him, which meant that these were just torments of the job.

Going back to his office, Susan, who was at the water cooler outside his office, turned as she saw Bart coming.

"Mr. Simpson, you've got someone waiting for you in your office."

"An appointment?" Bart asked.

Susan shook her head, "No, sir. Just a walk-in."

Bart nodded and proceeded inside the office, only to stop short when he saw who it was.

Dolph got up when he saw Bart.

"Hey, Simpson." He said.

Bart, personally, wanted to beat this man with his briefcase or try to come up with an excuse to why he needed to leave, suddenly. But the professionalism inside of him told him to enter and talk with Dolph.

_Stupid code of honor_. Bart thought, irritably.

Sitting down behind the desk, Bart watched Dolph, carefully and it seemed Dolph was doing the same.

"Simpson, I know you probably would like no better than to see me behind bars for what I did to you."

Bart nodded.

"I gotta tell ya, between you and me, it wasn't my choice. My job, in this stinking town, doesn't pay that well, so I need to do some side work to put food on the table."

"I was thought me bailing you out on that invading a private residence charge, public drunkenness, and indecent exposure; would have put me in better terms with you, Dolph." Bart said, scowling at him.

Dolph shrugged, "I told ya. I gotta do what I need to. You'll be happy to hear, however that I voted for you instead of Jessica, at the trial."

That DID make Bart, feel, a little better about Dolph. But why was he here?

"So, why are you here now? Hopefully you're not out to get me for someone else, this time?"

Dolph shook his head, "Nah, I'm not going to play "errand-boy" for a long time. Jessica's money has seen to that. The reason why I'm here, Simpson, is about your girlfriend."

Bart eyes went wide, "About Alex? Is she okay?"

Dolph shrugged, "Well, she' alive and okay. I'll bet, she's probably got a lot on her mind, though, considering."

Bart leaned forward on his desk. "Considering, what?"

Dolph looked at Bart in surprise. "What? You don't know?"

Bart shook his head.

Dolph went to a backpack that was sitting next to his chair and he brought out several photos, he laid them on Bart's desk.

"The guy you're looking at is Jeremy Hawthorne. This idiot is going around Springfield trying to find dirt on you and has been asking a lot about Alex."

Bart scowled at the picture, then looked up to Dolph. "What do you know about him?"

Dolph shrugged, "Not much. I made a call to a buddy of mine in LA, where this guy's from, and he couldn't come up with much. Other than countless jail time for soliciting with prostitutes, his record doesn't show anything else."

Bart sighed as he lay back in his chair, shaking his head. Looking at the pictures, again, Bart reached out for one and soon found himself staring at it.

"Is this Maggie?"

Dolph nodded, "I've been following him around town for awhile. That picture was taken today. He gave your sister something and then he went back to his motel."

Bart put a hand to his face, groaning. "Aye Carumba. If it isn't one thing, it's another."

He looked up at Dolph. "I don't suppose I could ask you to keep tabs on this guy? I'll gladly pay you."

Dolph shrugged, "Sure, why not. After all, business is slow since the trial ended. A lot of people were trying to get me to find out who was guiltier at the time. When do you want info, Simpson?"

"You know where I live. Best time would be at night."

Dolph nodded, "What about your girlfriend?"

Bart shook his head, "I need to talk to her about this and see how bad the situation is, till then, please don't talk to her."

Dolph nodded and got up, then left.

* * *

Lisa agreed to be there with Alex when she would talk to Bart about Jeremy, which made Alex feel a little better.

"You have nothing to be ashamed of, Alex. It's not like that part of your life is still going on, right?" Lisa said as the two of them parked in front of the Simpson's driveway.

Alex nodded and sighed as they walked out and she spotted the burned lettering on the lawn.

"I'm sorry your parent's had to be in this too."

Lisa laughed, "Believe it or not, I think deep down, our family loves getting attention. So don't worry, about it."

Alex still wasn't sure and what worried her most was how Bart was going to react when she told him.

Dinner was about to start and Homer was getting anise. They were all waiting for Bart, who was late.

"But, Marge, you know the rule of "Pork chop night"! If you're late, I don't care."

Marge sighed, "Homer, when we had the kids, I told you we would always eat as a family. Now, we're just going to have to wait a little more and I'm sure Bart will be here."

Just then, Bart's car pulled up into the driveway.

Alex clutched the tablecloth and started to breathe hard.

Lisa patted her friend on the back, "Relax, it'll be fine. I'm here for you."

Marge walked to the door as it opened and hugged Bart.

Soon, the whole family were sitting down and eating. Homer and Bart went into their classic fights over the last pork chop, which got Alex laughing, again.

After dinner, sitting in the living room, enjoying wine, Alex took a deep breath and looked to Bart, who was sitting next to her.

"Bart?"

Bart turned away from his conversation with Homer and looked at her.

"Yeah?"

Alex took another breath and said slowly. "I…need to tell you something. Can we go somewhere private?"

Bart nodded and he told the rest of the family to please excuse them and the two then went to the dining room.

"There's something I haven't told you, about my past." Alex was looking away which made this slightly easier.

Bart was listening and didn't say anything.

"When I was in LA I was struggling. Of course anyone could say that to make it in LA you've got struggle, but **I** did big time. It got to the point to where I was homeless and sleeping at the bus station."

"Alex, why didn't you call us? Mom's crazy about you, she could have sent you some money." Bart said.

Alex laughed, "You know me. I was so damn determined to turn anything into something that looked good, that I refused to ask help." She sighed, "But then it became worse as I was soon out of money for food. Then one day at the bus station, I met somebody."

Alex then looked into Bart's eyes' as she shut her's. "That's where I met Jeremy. Jeremy Hawthorne. He offered to help me out."

"How?" Bart asked.

Alex turned away from Bart and shuddered. "He…he had me in…pictures. Having…se…sex with married men and then he would blackmail them for money later."

Bart sat down at the table and put a hand to his head, trying to fully absorb what he was hearing.

"Is that why Jeremy's here? Does he want you to continue doing this kind of work for him?" Bart asked.

Alex looked at Bart in surprise. "You know?"

Bart nodded, "Dolph came to my office today, because Jeremy's been going around town asking about the two of us. One of the pictures of this guy showed him and Maggie. I need to talk with her and find out what it was that he gave her."

Alex sighed, "You don't have to. What he gave her were copies of the "pictures" he took to blackmail those married men. He told your sister that he would contact her later."

Bart eyes narrowed and he was starting to growl, "He's involving Maggie in this? I'll murder the S.O.B if he does anything to her!"

Alex, then, broke down and cried. "I'm so sorry, Bart."

Bart exhaled a deep breath and walked over to Alex and hugged her, reassuringly.

"Hey, hey, stop that. It's going to be okay, Alex. After all, we got through Jessica, we can get through this as well." Bart said, stroking her hair.

Alex laughed as she wiped her eyes, "Why are you so great, Bart Simpson?"

Bart gave her a devilish smile, "It come with being so Bad, you can't have one without the other."

Alex kissed him. "I wouldn't have any other way." She said.

Their moment was interrupted, however, when Marge came in and hugged Bart.

"Bart! You're getting married! I'm so proud!"

* * *

Maggie has always loved the Springfield YMCA for many reasons, one of which was that they let her use their GYM after closing, provided that she wiped down the equipment after using it.

After several hours, she was going to quit and she walked to the shower room but stopped when something caught her eye over by the entrance.

Lying on the floor, near the twin doors was an envelope.

Walking over, Maggie could read what was on the front, "Simpson's little sister".

Maggie first looked out the doors, to see if it's carrier was anywhere nearby. She then picked up the letter and went behind the receptionist's desk and took out a letter opener and opened the letter.

She then read it aloud.

"Miss Simpson, If you wish that the contents of those pictures to remain unseen please do the following: 1. Go to your brother's office and make out a business check made out to "cash" for the amount of $700,000, if you tell your brother any of this, I'll be forced to go to the news with those pictures. 2. Find some way to have your brother sign it. 3. Take the check to the Springfield Super 8 Motel and slide it under the door of room 26. Again, if anything doesn't feel right with me on how you're doing this or if I feel you're going to either back out or try and bust me, those pictures will go the press and your brother will be humiliated and Alex will be outcaste. By the way, incidentally, if you could buy me some stamps that'd help too.

Signed, Jeremy."

Maggie glared at the letter and gritted her teeth.

_That jerk! He's not giving us any option! _

Maggie grabbed the phone and dialed.

"Nelson? It's Mags'. I'm starting to feel that option "B" is sounding good, right about now. Let's get the "Gang" together and see what we can do about this "problem"."

Later, that evening, at Moe's, Bart, Alex, Lisa, Maggie, Nelson, Homer, Jimbo, Kearney, Dolph, and Grandpa Simpson, were all sitting at a slew of tables; Moe and Barney were there as well as Ralph.

After Maggie had read aloud the list of instructions, the floor then was opened for suggestions.

Alex still wasn't sure why all these people were here.

"They're here for you and Bart." Lisa said.

"But why?" Asked Alex.

Lisa smiled, "Bart has bailed them out so many times that they'll do anything for him. Since you're involved with him that goes for you as well."

Alex shook her head in amazement, as Homer was the first one to speak.

"Can't we just break in and steal those pictures when he's not there?"

Maggie shook her head; "I don't think so, Dad. He may have those on him wherever he goes. It'd be too risky if they weren't in there and he finds out what we did."

Nelson punched a fist into his open palm, "I still say we just beat this wuss into submission."

Dolph, Jimbo, and Kearney agreed with this.

Maggie sighed, "Again, this is the problem. If we don't know where those pictures are, we can't prevent him from having them sent to the press. If he has someone else holding them he could let them know to send them."

Bart sighed, "Then what should we do, Mags'?"

Maggie sighed, "I don't know. He's making it sound like if anything makes him paranoid he's going to spill to the news. I know we can't attack him because he may not have the pictures and he'll send someone to do it for him. Our best bet is to maybe just watch what he does and compare information. See if he's always carrying something each time. With any luck, it'll be the pictures. Meanwhile, a few others can carefully search his motel room when he's not there."

Everyone seemed to agree with this being the best course of action, with the exception of Nelson and the others, who still felt beating the man was the better way.

Alex still felt that these people were doing way too much just to help protect both her and Bart. Though, knowing the kind of "Mob mentality" that the denizens of Springfield create, Alex knew there was no chance to avert their minds away.

Bart too felt this maybe was going a little too far for their favor. The plan was simple yet still dangerous. From what he understood from that letter, Jeremy had others in town with him, giving him reports', and that made Jeremy dangerous. This plan of Maggie's was risky, but there really wasn't anything Bart could do. Well, except, move away, but that really wasn't an option Bart felt comfortable with.

While Maggie talked with the others about who should do what, Lisa and Alex discussed other things in quite.

"Did you and Bart set a date?" Lisa asked.

"What date?" Alex asked, confused.

Lisa smiled, "Your wedding, stupid."

Alex laughed, "No, we haven't. Though, I'm thinking, maybe, around April."

Lisa nodded, "That's a good time."

The two were diverted from their conversation, when Maggie called the meeting closed and everyone noisily walked out of the bar.

* * *

Bart and Alex walked to the Springfield Waterfront to the exact place where they had their moment. Sitting down in the exact place, Bart and Alex watched as the moon's light shimmered off the water.

"Alex, when do you want to do it?"

Alex looked at him in surprise, since Bart hadn't spoken since the meeting had ended.

"Do what?"

Bart smiled at her, "The wedding. What day would you like?"

Alex smiled back, "How does April 25th sound?"

Bart kissed her, "Perfect."

The two then resumed watching the moon and both started humming their song, not in know that behind them about thirty feet away, they were being watched.

Jeremy smiled as he thought to himself.

_Enjoy your moment while you can, Alex Whitney. I'll be rich and have you back working for me soon enough._

* * *

_**To be continued…**_

* * *

_**SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS**_

**A/N**: I hope that all who still love this series aren't disappointed with this turn I've made. Please review so I can get your in take on this chapter.

A/N II: Alex's past is revealed and the man is here to reel her in, can both she and Bart escape him? Can Nelson make a relationship with Lisa work, this time? Did Maggie take that shower? Find out all this and more on the next exciting chapter of Bart Simpson: Attorney at Law!!!

_**Q-n-P**_


	15. Mission: Implausible

**A/N**: Just to warn those who are faint of heart, that there is quite a bit of violence in this chapter, but all tasteful and still good within the Teen Rated spectrum. If you're a bit squeamish about violence, even if it's mild like this, I advise you to either not read the end or you can wait and read the next chapter, which will discuss about what had occurred here without going into the details this one does.

_**Q-n-P**_

* * *

At first, Bart wasn't sure how well Maggie's plan would carry out, but for the following three days, everyone was coming up to either Bart, Alex, Lisa, or Maggie and telling any of them on what they have seen of Jeremy Hawthorne.

So far, the only thing noticeable that had been seen with Jeremy was a brown leather satchel that he kept a constant eye on. When anyone came within three feet of it, he quickly brought it closer to him. This news gave hope to Bart, as it was probably a sign that those pictures were in that satchel.

However, much to the glee that was found to this news, Bart soon got word from Maggie that she had just received another letter. This one was a deadline for the money.

**Chapter Fifteen: Mission: Implausible**

It was decided that another meeting was needed to decide the next course of action that should be taken.

Some of the people thought that if Bart did pay the man then this would all go away, but Lisa reminded them of what had been written on the Simpson's lawn, that, this wasn't a quick-fix problem.

"I STILL say we should take the guy out and send him packin!" Said Nelson.

"Has anyone found out yet if they know who Jeremy's accomplices are?" Asked Maggie.

No one answered.

"C'mon people! We only have until tomorrow to come up with the pictures or we're going to have to a problem!" Exclaimed Lisa.

Otto raised a hand, "Uh, weren't we going to raid the dude's motel room or is that still on hold?"

Everyone started to murmur that question also and all turned to Maggie and Lisa for an answer.

Lisa didn't like the idea of breaking into his room, because if they weren't careful enough they could leave evidence that they were there and Jeremy would have no choice but to carry out his plan.

Maggie seemed to agree with this and thought for a moment before answering.

"Yes and no. I think now would be the best time to see if those pictures are in their but to pick the people to go with us to search, is tricky. All those who want to take part in this raise your hand."

Half the room in Moe's raised their hands.

Lisa looked over the crowd and in her mind thought of the best candidates to do this job correctly.

"Ok," she said as got up from her seat and she pointed to each individual, "I want Martin, Nelson, Milhouse, and Sherri and Terri to come with us. The rest of you, try and find out if you can separate Jeremy from his satchel, long enough to see if those pictures are in there."

Everyone nodded in agreement with his or her assignments and the meeting was thus closed.

While the others left, Lisa stayed to confer with Maggie.

"This is really a long shot, you know. I'm not sure if we're going to find them there."

Maggie nodded. "Yeah, I know, but I think it's either this or try to find a new town for Bart and Alex."

Both knew that neither wanted the latter.

* * *

Bart had decided to spend time with Homer while Alex was with Marge, looking at wedding dresses. Both of them wanted their minds taken off of what has happened over the past couple of days. 

Bart still wasn't sure that spending it with Homer was the best idea, though.

The two of them were at the Springfield dump looking for a new couch to replace the other which had grown something unidentifiable.

They had spent over an hour and were starting to get under the suspicion of the Dump Master.

"Youse guys find what'cha needed?" He asked.

Bart heard from a far Homer yelling in triumph and he turned back to the guy and nodded.

Homer returned shortly and the Dump Master took out a clipboard.

"Ok, I needs your names."

"What for?" Homer asked.

"Well, it's part of the policy of this place that we don't give anything out for people with criminal histories." The guy answered as he took out a pen.

"Simpson, Bart." Bart told him.

The Dump Master nodded and then turned to Homer, who was nervously looking at his watch and then looked up.

"Oh, uh, my name's…Steel, Stainless Steel." Homer said, slowly.

The Dump Master looked at Homer; unsure of the answer he was given. He then shrugged and put away his pen.

Thirty minutes later, they had the couch on top of Homer's car, the idea to which Bart still disagreed about.

"Dad, I'll say it again, you've put to much weight on your shocks, it's going to mess up the car." Bart said as the two got in.

"Relax, boy. This old beauty is capable of anything." Homer said, stroking the dashboard.

About five minutes later, much to Bart's annoyment on how he was right about what he had said prior; smoke emitted from the tires as they drove back to the Simpson's home.

Alex, at the same time, was having disagreements with Marge, on the dress she wanted.

"Are you sure you want this one, Alex? It's a little…suggestive." She said; looking at how far down the neckline went.

Alex sighed as she looked at others.

"Well, it's within my price line and it looks great. I don't want any meringue."

Marge made her murmur and went to the other side of the shop looking at veils, leaving Alex looking at another dress that looked perfect.

Without showing it to Marge, Alex walked to the seller and ordered it in her size.

The two spent the rest of the afternoon with Lisa, who was feeling down, due to finding out that her boss, Karen, had decided to step down from her office and neglected to inform Lisa.

"Oh, Lisa, you know this isn't the end, it's only the beginning. You'll find a new job that'll make you what you want, don't you worry." Marge said stroking her daughter's hair as Lisa was moaning.

Lisa sighed, "I know. I just wish the stupid Senate hadn't opposed her on that "Let's end the "No Child left behind" policy". She had so much going for her."

Lisa wiped away a tear and turned her attention back to Alex and held her friend's hand. "Anyways, I want to focus more on my Sister-in-law-to-be. Please tell me you're going to have me as your maid-of-honor."

Alex smiled and nodded. "I wouldn't have it any other way."

Maggie, on the other side of town, sitting with Alison outside of the Quick-E-Mart, both enjoying a Gellato Squishee, talking about the plans for a bachlorette party.

"Okay, here's what we've agreed upon. One, the lot of us will go to Capital City for the shindig. Two, the men will be plentiful, and Three, booze, booze, and more booze. Right?" Alison asked.

Maggie, who was looking at the ground, looked up to her, realizing she was talking.

"Oh, uh, yeah, that all sounds good."

Alison sighed as she set down her drink. "Your mind's else where, huh?"

Maggie nodded, "That deadline's bothering me, and so far no one has come up with anything on where those photos are."

Alison nodded, "I feel so sorry for those two. I was hoping that Jessica was the last thing that they would have to worry about. Hopefully, this Jeremy will stumble somewhere and you guys will be able to get those photos away from him and send him back to where ever he came from."

Maggie smiled at Alison, "Yeah, I hope so, too."

The two then reverted back to their original conversation.

* * *

Bart and Homer greeted Alex and Marge when they arrived home. 

With the exception of Lisa and Maggie, who called in telling them they wouldn't be able to be there for lunch, the rest of the family and Alex had sandwiches.

Marge still went on and on about how happy she was, even under the black cloud they were in, that Bart was getting married.

"Yeah. Hopefully you'll be able to make this one through, boy. Unlike those strippers that you proposed to over the years." Homer said, laughing.

"Aw, Homer." Marge said groaning.

Bart scowled at his dad. "Way to paint me in a good picture to my fiancée, Home-boy."

Homer, realizing the error of his comment tried his best to change the subject.

"Oh, uh, heh, sorry. So, uh, Alex. When will that fancy dress store, of yours, is going to open?"

Alex smiled, "Well, I decided to hold off the Grand Opening till after Bart and I get married. It'll be sort of a wedding present for both of us." She then took Bart's hand and squeezed it.

"That is so sweet." Marge said as she took everyone's plates away.

Bart got up and went to the kitchen to help out Marge with the dishes as Alex told Homer on what kind of selections she was going to have for both men and women.

In the kitchen, Marge gave Bart a huge hug and kissed him on the cheek.

"Have I told you how proud I am of you, Bart?" Marge asked.

Bart smiled, "Oh, once or twice, I guess."

Marge smiled; the two of them then went right on to scrubbing the dishes.

Meanwhile, at Moe's, Lisa was organizing the people she hand selected, and was getting them prepped for the searching of Jeremy's motel room.

Handing out latex gloves, Lisa gave them each instructions while she did.

"Alright, tonight's the night. According to Otto, Jeremy's going to the Springfield Racetrack while we're doing this, so we need to be in and out in no more than an hour. Milhouse, I want you to search all the drawers in the room. If something isn't looking odd or sticking out, DON'T go through it, got it?"

Milhouse nodded.

"Sherri, Terri, I want the two of you to rummage through all the garbage outside of the room, try to see if there's anything that looks as though Jeremy would have hidden something in it."

Both Sherri and Terri nodded.

"Martin, I want you to go through everything that's been written on, look for anything that's been scrawled on and report if you find anything such as a location or a phone number."

Martin handed back the gloves. "I'm sorry, Lisa, but I'm allergic to latex."

Lisa groaned and pulled out some rubber dish washing gloves, having anticipated someone giving that response.

The last person was Nelson.

"And Nelson, I want you to lift up the furniture and see if Jeremy's been hiding the photos underneath them or if he has them taped to the bottom of something."

Nelson nodded, "Sure thing, Hot Stuff."

Lisa turned a shade of red as everyone started giggling.

"Not here." She said, through gritted teeth.

Nelson scratched his head in embarrassment as he realized what he blurted.

Soon, everyone was packed inside Martin's Areostar Van and they arrived at the Super 8 earlier than expected.

"Okay people, lets move!" Lisa yelled as everyone then clambered out of the van and went to his or her respective positions.

Martin, who was dating the woman who worked as a cleaning lady at the motel, took out a keycard and they walked right into room.

Inside, Lisa noted on how well kept the place was. Even the bed looked like it hadn't been slept in yet.

Milhouse went straight for the drawers and quickly opened them one by one calling out as he did.

"Nope, nope, nope, dirty Mags, nope, nope…" He then went to the bedside tables and did the same, still coming up empty.

Nelson lifted up the corner of the chairs and gently laid them down against the foot of the bed while he inspected the bottom.

"Nothing." He said and then repeated the same process with the others before scrunching himself under the bed to look under there.

Lisa had designated herself as foreman of this whole operation. She was going to make sure that they left no hint of their being there. So far, nothing was made to look as though the place had been searched.

"Hey, Lisa! I think I've found something!" Martin called out and everyone was soon next to him to see what he had discovered.

Lisa took the napkin, which had been folded into a triangle and was hidden inside the motel's complimentary Bible. Inside the napkin was a name.

"Henry Howler. Hmmm, this just might be the person Jeremy's been using to hold the photos." Lisa said. She then took out a small spiral notebook she had with her and wrote down the name and then handed back the napkin to Martin.

"Put this back the way you found it." Lisa said.

Martin nodded obediently.

In the next forty minutes they hadn't come up with anything else, so Lisa told them that they should call it quits and investigate the name they had found.

As soon as they were outside by the van, Lisa addressed everyone.

"Good job, people. Nelson, I want you to go to my sister at her work and tell her of what we discovered. I told her I'd update her if we found anything, ok?"

Nelson nodded and walked away to the street to hail a cab.

Lisa turned back to the rest of the group. "The rest of us should head back to Moe's for a drink and see if we can make any sense of this name."

Everyone nodded and soon everyone was back inside Martin's cramped van.

On the way to Moe's, Lisa's mind was racing with the hope that what they had found would be the key to Bart and Alex's salvation.

* * *

Bart and Alex found a moment to themselves as Homer and Marge went off to the store, leaving the house to the two. 

Alex decided to put on a movie while Bart went to the kitchen to make some popcorn.

Once they were settled, the two watched "High Fidelity" and munched on the corn, while snuggling closer and closer.

"Promise me this is how it's going to be." Alex said. "Just us, loving every moment of eachother and never getting bored."

Bart grinned, "Oh, really? Then you should change a little, cause, you're pretty damn boring as we speak."

Alex elbowed him in the side, "You jerk, I was being serious."

Bart laughed, "So, I guess I can't make jokes. Is that it?"

"No. You can make jokes, only that can't be made in my expense. But, I can make fun of you all I want, that's the deal." She said grinning at him.

"Is that so?" Bart said, raising an eyebrow.

Alex nodded.

Bart smiled and then leaned over and kissed her.

"Deal." He said.

Alex laughed, "You know, for a lawyer, Bart, you're not a very good one. You need to learn how to tough it out on negotiations and not bow out so easily."

"Ouch, hit it where it hurts, why don'tcha." Bart returned the laugh.

Alex smiled. "Shut up and kiss me again."

Bart did, happily.

* * *

Maggie was just about to clean the pool when Nelson came in. 

"Nelson! What did you guys find?" Maggie asked as she set aside her skimmer and sat down next to him.

"Just some dude's name. Lisa's going to see if she can track him down and put an end to all of this. Hey, where's the can in this place?" Nelson asked as he squirmed.

Maggie, bitterly, sighed and indicated with a finger to a place down the hall.

Nelson nodded and walked quickly.

Maggie was about to get back to cleaning the pool, when she heard the door open again and turned to see the same man who handed her the duplicate photos.

Jeremy gave a smug sneer as he stopped within seven feet of her.

Maggie was about to call out for Nelson, but decided to wait and see what the man was going to do first.

Jeremy put his hands into his pockets and retrieved a cigarette and a lighter and proceeded to light.

"There's no smoking in here." Maggie said sternly, although, in her mind, laughing at herself for beinf hypocritical.

Jeremy lit the cigarette and put away his lighter.

"You're in no position to give me any lip, Simpson. You broke the rules. Your cronies went through my room."

Maggie found her blood turning cold and small beads of sweat started to build up on the top of her forehead.

"What are you talking about?" She asked.

Jeremy gave a sickly grin, "I'll admit it was a pretty good job. It wasn't until I noticed that my bedside drawer wasn't closed all the way that I knew someone had been there. You're a fool, Simpson. You had a chance to make thing easier for Alex and your brother but you blew it. I've already given my man the heads up and he's going to deliver those pictures to the press tomorrow morning."

Just then, Nelson reappeared and was cracking his knuckles threateningly.

"So, you're the dork that's dissing my friends, huh?"

Jeremy threw his cigarette down on the floor and put it out with his foot.

"You could've made this go all away, Simpson. I hope you like watching the news. It'll be very climatic."

With that said, he turned around and left.

Nelson was about to go after him until he noticed Maggie looking startled and shaking.

"What's wrong?" He asked.

Maggie ran to the phone and started punching in numbers, rapidly.

"We've got make quick with that name. Jeremy told me he's already gone ahead of plan. Who the hell left a damn drawer open!" She said icily; as she waited for the person she called to answer their phone.

_Milhouse, you're dead_. Thought Nelson as he then sat down.

* * *

When Lisa heard the news from Maggie, she felt her whole body go frigid with terror. 

"Aw! I'm going to kill Milhouse! I know Maggie; we need to think clearly. Yeah, I'm going to get on that name right away. See you when you get here. Bye." Lisa hung up the phone and then went into the kitchen and pulled out the phone book and went through page after page looking for Henry Howler.

Unfortunately, there were twenty-five Henry Howler's listed in the phone book.

"Damn it!" Lisa said aloud and slammed the book shut as she then started to pace around the kitchen.

Her attention was diverted when she saw a note on the refrigerator that Homer had made that was on a Springfield University stationary paper.

Walking over there, she squinted to make out what Homer had written.

"In case of computer problems, call the "men". Gary, Douglas, and Benjamin."

Lisa thought for a moment and then it dawned on her.

"I remember them! The nerds!" Lisa then went back and picked up the phone book from the floor and looked up Springfield University's number.

Later, Maggie had just came in when Lisa had finished her conversation with the Dean of Admissions.

"Thank you again, Dean." She then hung up and turned to Maggie.

"Good News! I found the nerds!" Lisa said happily.

Maggie looked at her sister, with interest. "You found who?"

Lisa laughed, "I forgot. You were way to young to remember them. When Homer went to college, after melting down a Nuclear Competency Testing van, he had to be tutored by three guys, Gary, Douglas, and Benjamin. When Homer did a prank that got these guys expelled from the campus, he housed them here and they made our lives a living nightmare."

Maggie tried to see where this was going, "Yeah? So, why are you so excited about finding them if they're so horrible?"

Lisa waived a hand, "Don't get me wrong. I just didn't like them staying here. I think if we can get in touch with them that they can help us track down Henry Howler and we can stop him before he gets those photos to the news."

"Well, great! What are we waiting for? Let's go get us some nerds." Maggie said and the two of them got up and headed out the door.

Gary Morris, Douglas Hardwick, and Benjamin Phinneas have been residing in the same dorm since their encounter with Homer. Their excellent success rate with tutoring students has granted them tenure and lifetime room and board from the University.

All, whose hair, Lisa had noticed, was slightly graying.

"Hey, it's the baby duck lover." Gary remarked as he answered the door.

"Baby duck lover?" Maggie looked at Lisa.

"I'll tell you later." She said as she, Maggie, and Gary met with the others.

"So, who's the guy you want us to find?" Asked Douglas.

"Henry Hawk." Lisa answered.

"Hawk? Do you mean "Hell-full Henry Hawk"?" Benjamin asked.

"Who's that?" Asked Maggie.

"He's the sports commentator on channel twelve. He usually come on after Kent Brockman." Added Gary.

Lisa looked at Maggie with glee, "That's it! That's how Jeremy's going to get those photos on the news!"

Maggie wasn't certain. "How can we be sure, Lise? This maybe just a coincidence."

Lisa sighed. She knew Maggie was right. She turned back to the three men.

"What do you know about him?"

Douglas started laughing, "Only that he's the biggest loser at the comic-cons!"

All three of them started laughing, nasally.

"That and he's from LA. Moved to Springfield about a year ago."

This time, Maggie agreed with Lisa that this was their man.

"Where does he live?" Asked Lisa.

Right at the Tornado Taunter Trailer Park, or the triple "T" as it's sometimes called." Benjamin said.

"Which trailer?" Asked Maggie.

All three of the guys looked at eachother.

"Uh, we don't know." Said Gary, sheepishly.

"Why not?" Asked Lisa, trying to hide her disappointment.

"Well, you see, we kind of have been, well, put on a restraining order from him." Douglas said, bashfully.

"What! Why?" Asked Maggie.

"We've been harassing him, his wife, his sons, about how he knows next to nothing about Spider Man. That idiot thought Spider Man's secret identity was Hal Jordan."

The three men broke out again into another nerdish laugh, only until they saw the glares that were coming from both Lisa and Maggie.

"Could you find out if he has a mailing address, that should alone let us find out which trailer is his." Lisa said.

Gary scratched the back of his head, "Actually, we've tried that. He has all of his mail sent to him at the studio, so, again, we can't."

Maggie took Lisa aside.

"Lise, I thin we're going to have to find some way into the studio, don'tcha think?"

Lisa sighed, "I think you're right, seeing as how there's no way to stop him before he goes there, this is it."

* * *

Bart and Milhouse were up for an all night bender, which was what Bart needed. 

Although, even though Alex had told him she was fine with it now, Bart felt a little guilty for drinking again, yet this time it wasn't out of self-destructiveness.

The two were at Moe's for three hours before Bart felt he had enough.

Saying goodbye to Milhouse, Bart called a cab and went back to his apartment to sleep off his buzz.

Coming back to his apartment, Bart felt, very alone.

He hated this feeling; he was soon drawn into nostalgia and remembered when Alex had spent the night here and he had gotten the courage to give her that ring. That ring and himself.

Reflecting on this, Bart smiled as he thought more and more on the idea of him becoming a family man. He then pictured himself, losing his hair, just like Homer, and Alex growing her hair up through the roof, like Marge. He then drew it farther and imaged them having a son, not unlike himself who he would choke when he got annoyed with him.

Could he really do all that? Could he really take that next step and do what was necessary when it was needed?

Bart sat down on his leather sofa, thinking long and hard.

He then remembered on how much his parents loved each other and then thought about those three words Alex had said to him when he proposed.

"I'm all yours." She had said.

Bart smiled. Again, those words meant everything to him and he was willing to live the rest of his life to hear those words over and over again.

_I can do this_. He thought. _I want to do this. This, is what I want._

Bart turned on the TV and watched the reruns of the Krusty the Clown show, right up till he fell asleep.

Bart fell asleep, smiling.

* * *

Around four six o'clock, the next mourning, and much to the bitterness of everyone who was called, Lisa and Maggie rounded everyone up at Moe's. 

They told everyone what they had found out and the plan they needed to carry out.

"Those pictures must never meet the studio executive's hands." Lisa said. "If we fail at that, the news must not be broadcasted. This is it, guys. This'll be our last chance to stop Jeremy's plan to succeed."

Everyone, sleepily, murmured in agreement.

After getting everyone drunk on caffeine, Lisa led the group over to the studios and they waited outside next to the building, while Maggie tried to think of a way for the lot of them to get passed the guard.

"We could always bribe him with booze." Moe said.

"Nah, let's just rush him. He'll never be able to catch all of us." Nelson said.

Lisa shook her head at all those suggestions. "I don't think any of those would work."

The, an idea came to Maggie.

"Follow me." She said.

Everyone filed in a line behind her and she walked the group to the gate, where the guard looked at everyone suspiciously.

"Do you guys work here?" He asked.

Maggie smiled, "Why yes. Yes, of course."

The man lifted up the barrier and saluted them.

"Right this way, please."

Once they were inside and away from the gate, Lisa pulled aside Maggie.

"Maggie, how did you know that'd work?"

Maggie grinned, "I remember Bart telling me how HE got in here seventeen years ago. I though it was worth a shot to try it again."

Lisa smiled and the group then headed off to Studio B.

Inside, Kent Brockman was adjusting his microphone, in his lapel, as he was waiting for his raspberry Danish.

"I've said this before and I'll say it again, I'm not doing the news without my Danish. You people have got to learn."

One of the studio hands scoffed, "Yeah, sure, whatever, Kent."

Kent was handed the news report just as his Danish arrived.

"Let's see, no I'm not going to read that, or that, no, not even this one. That one's a keeper. What? Are they kidding? Hmmm. Wow! This ones big!" Kent exclaimed as he looked over the report with a red felt tipped pen.

Across the room, Lisa, Maggie, and the bunch made their way around, until Lisa stopped a studio gaffer.

"Excuse me, but can you tell us where the news' studio executive is? It's rather important."

The guy scratched his brow and then pointed to a squat man drinking with the crew.

As Lisa walked up to Him, Maggie, and the others, decided to head up to the control room.

In there, large images were shown on various screens.

The only man in the room was a squeaky voiced teen who smiled at all of them.

"Hi! Are you here for the tour?"

Maggie thought for a moment and then nodded.

"Well, let me show you around. Over here, in this corner, is where I take my nap, and over here…"

"Where do they put the stock footage?" Asked Maggie, interrupting the guy.

"Oh, that. There's a knob on the control panel that organizes them into order for the show."

Maggie pointed at a dial, "This one?"

The teen nodded.

"Can I see?" Maggie asked and she sat down and started turning the dial.

On a separate screen, going through them, she stopped at the one they were looking for.

"This one's going on the air today." The teen said.

"Say, anyway you could…not show it?" Maggie asked.

"What? Why?" He asked.

"Please." Maggie said and against her normal judgement put her hand on the guy's leg.

He then smiled broadly.

"Why, yes, of course. But, under one condition."

Maggie knew she shouldn't have done what she did. "What condition?"

He then leaned over and whispered into her ear.

Maggie's eyes went wide and then she looked sadly toward the ground.

"Alright." She said.

Meanwhile, Lisa stopped in horror as she saw the lights go down and the camera's light turn red.

She saw the group head toward her and she rushed to them.

"Hey you guys! They're starting! We gottta…"

A studio hand shushed her and Maggie laid a hand on her shoulder and whispered into her ear.

"**_Don't worry. It's been taken care of."_**

Lisa and the others stood and watched as things progressed.

Back at his motel, Jeremy opened up a bottle of champagne as he turned on the set.

"And now, here's your host, Kent Brockman!" Said the announcer.

"Good Morning Springfield, today five hundred Cambodians, that were once reported missing, were found alive in a sports shoe making shop in New Jersey. The owner of that shop has yet to comment. In other news, a demented madman who claims he is repeating the same day over and over has kidnapped Puxatawney Phil. This kidnapping has led to a car chase, which is still on going. Our most breaking news today, however, is something alarming! One of our town's most prominent figures, of the people, has been dating someone who is, how shall we say, the down and dirty type."

Jeremy poured himself a glass as he grinned.

_Yeah, the type that's going to be working for me, again._ He thought to himself.

Kent Brockman continued, "Before we name names, we have footage of that person ready for you prude and righteous people. Here it is."

The screen above, to the right of Kent, showed Kent himself in a Jacuzzi, drunk, and with a cross dresser.

Jeremy got up from his chair and growled in anger.

"How!" He yelled. "It was fool proof!"

Back on the set, a lot of snickering was heard.

"What's so funny?" Kent asked. He then looked up at the image.

"What the hell? How did you guys get that! They told me there wasn't any film in the camera!"

Kent didn't say anymore as Jeremy, in rage, through the champagne bottle at the set which bursted into sparks.

_That's it. She's going to have to choose._ He thought bitterly and then stormed out of the room.

Back at the Studio, during commercial break, Kent was arguing with his executives while Lisa and the others were high-fiving eachother.

Looking around, Lisa didn't see Maggie.

"Hey, have any of you seen Maggie?" She asked.

Nelson, Moe, Barney, Milhouse, and Sherri and Terri all shook their heads.

Up above in the control booth, silhouetted by the light, Maggie could be seen kissing the squeaky voiced teen.

When she returned, she refused to tell Lisa where she had gone, but simply stated, "Sometimes, in the entertainment business, you've got to kiss up to a lot of people to get things done."

With Maggie were both the photos and the written document on Alex and Bart. Going outside the studio to a garbage can, Maggie took out her lighter and burned both the documents and the photos into the trash.

Milhouse wiped his glasses as some of the ashes flew at him.

"There. That's the end of it." Lisa said. "Mission accomplished."

Everyone didn't say anything for a moment and then Moe started looking around.

"Say, while we're still here and all, do you think maybe we could go see the premiere screening of the new Itchy and Scratchy trailer? It's supposed to be the real one and not one of those others that jerk ya around without giving you any insight on the movie."

Lisa smiled, "You guys go ahead. I think Maggie and I'll head home and deliver the good news to our family."

While the others went their way, Lisa and Maggie strolled out of the studios.

* * *

Alex was talking with the last of the developers on the lighting for the offices and was about done. She was eager to get back to the Simpson's house and find out if they prevented that broadcast from happening. 

Getting her purse, she was halfway down the flight of stairs when she was met by her worse fear.

Standing there, at the landing, grinning up at her was Jeremy.

"Hello, doll." He said, showing yellow teeth.

"Jeremy, get the hell away from me." Alex said as she took a step backwards.

Jeremy proceeded up, slowly.

"Aww, c'mon. Is that anyway to greet your dear old business partner?"

Alex felt her adrenaline pumping as she kept on backing upwards on the steps.

"Ya know, you can be quite the pain in the ass, sometimes. You leave LA without a single goodbye and I track you down to this rat's nest, engaged to a whore-mongering shyster, and you won't as so much as say "hi" to me. Isn't that a shame."

"You know why I left, Jeremy." Alex said and she cursed herself for sending everyone home so early.

"Was it really that terrible, Alex? We were making good money, both well-fed, nothing to slow us down, nothing. You don't really think that I wasn't going to introduce you to the big people, huh?"

Jeremy was getting closer and Alex knew that she was either going to have to turn and run or, at least, B.S. the guy enough, until Bart came, who was picking her up.

"You made me believe a lot of things, back then. I was young, poor, and stupid. All of which, I'm not now. I'm better off without you, Jeremy."

Jeremy sighed, "I thought that at one time, too, ya know? But then, in an airport bar, I saw that guy of yours on trial for sexually harassing a poor innocent girl. And I thought, "Am I really going to let, dear Alex, throw her life away, for this creep? Hell no. She belongs with me! Me and the fashion kings of Hollywood! Don't you agree?"

As Alex took another step up, she saw, in the corner of her eye, a wrench, that the plumber left behind. Knowing the pros and cons of using such a thing to defend herself; Alex knew, though, it was at least something.

"C'mon, Alex. We've had good times, you and me. Remember? There was that time, that…"

Alex quickly bent over and grabbed the wrench and held it out in front of her.

"No, Jeremy. There were never "good times". You manipulated; brain washed, and corrupted me. I'm staying right here, and if you are wise, you'll get the hell out of my life and stay out."

Jeremy shrugged, "Well, okay, if that's how you feel."

He then turned but stopped.

"But if I can't have you, no one should." He then turned around and darted straight for Alex.

Alex held the wrench out and swung it hitting Jeremy squarely on the jaw.

Jeremy shoved her to the ground as he rubbed his jaw.

Alex felt the wrench go flying from her hands and land several feet away from her.

As Jeremy was still tending to his mouth, Alex turned over and got up and ran with all she could through the room to head to the opposite stairwell.

Jeremy was close behind as she could hear his ragged breathing.

"You're coming with me, whether you want to or not, girl!" He yelled as he came within two feet of her.

Alex soon found the weight of his body run into her and the both of them onto the floor.

Alex practically tried to claw herself away, until she felt her body being pulled and dragged closer to Jeremy.

"Listen now, woman, you should no that I'm not a man who likes to be displeased. So far, you and these dopes have managed to mess things up for me greatly. I've lost my money but I'm not going to lose you, so get up!"

Alex tried her best at an attempt of punching him but only got so far as a few inches from his face before he grabbed her wrist and forced it back down.

"Nah uh, not going to happen." He said. Jeremy then backhanded her across the face.

Alex felt warm tears come to her eyes after that blow had been delivered.

"You're going to come back with me, get up!" He said, harshly.

Alex knew she had only one other tool at her disposal and she had better use it.

Thrusting her leg upwards, she nailed him right in the groin.

Jeremy gave a loud groan of pain and fell backwards, clutching his area.

Alex got herself up and made like a bat out of hell as she ran down the second flight of stairs and outside to the crowded streets.

She decided to go further and went across the street to a deli where she leaned against the building and rubbed her bruised face.

"Alex?"

Alex looked up in fear only to find, in her relief, that it was Lisa and Maggie who were behind her.

Turning around she was met by their gasps as both looked at her in shock and confusion.

"Alex, what the hell happened to you! What happened to your face?" Maggie asked as Lisa rushed inside the deli to ask for some ice.

Alex sat down and shuddered.

"Jeremy. It was Jeremy." She said as Maggie sat down next to her and held her.

Lisa soon returned with a cup full of ice and she took out a handkerchief from her purse, put the ice in it and then tied it up into a ball.

"Here, put this on your cheek. Oh, Alex, what happened?"

Alex slowly told them what had happened over the past ten minutes.

Maggie looked down, "We should have had someone to guard you, in case this would've happened. I'm sorry."

Alex smiled, "Why are you sorry. I know him beating me up isn't good, but you foiling him is. I want to thank the both of you from stopping those pictures for being aired. It means a lot to me."

Both Lisa and Maggie tried their best to smile.

Soon, Maggie got up.

"I'll be right back." She said.

Walking away from the others, Maggie brought out her cell and she dialed quickly.

Ever since she was in high school Maggie had people who told her that they'd look after her, no matter what trouble she got herself into. Especially if it was someone who was harassing her.

Bart's friends were her friends too, they, in some way, were like her other family.

"Nelson? It's Mags'. Listen, I've got a "rabid dog" I need you and the men to take care of."

While Maggie was away, Lisa was sitting with Alex and she unfolded the entire story on how they got into the studio and managed to stop the production. Although she couldn't say HOW they did it, seeing as Maggie was still reluctant on telling her, she still tried her best as she told Alex.

Alex smiled, "Poor Kent. Kind of sucks for him, but he needs a little humiliation now and then."

Lisa laughed and nodded.

Maggie soon returned and sat with the two of them.

Alex suddenly turned red and both Lisa and Maggie looked to where she was looking and saw Bart, in his car, at a traffic light, waiting for it to turn green.

"Oh no." Maggie said.

"Don't worry, I'll tell him you're in the bathroom, Alex and that you told me to tell him that you'll see him back home, don't worry."

"Thank you." Alex said as she pressed the ice against her face.

Lisa walked over, across the street to Alex's building where Bart was parked.

Bart was listening to Twisted Sister's We're not gonna take it, when Lisa approached.

Seeing Lisa, Bart turned off the music.

"Hey, Lise! How'd it go?"

Lisa smiled, "It went great, actually. We managed to pull it off, so you're going to have to get ready to thank a lot of people at Moe's, you know."

Bart nodded, "Yeah, I'll do that. Say, have you seen Alex? I was supposed to pick her up right about now."

"She's in the bathroom at the restaurant that we're eating at. She asked me to ask you if it'd be alright if she went home with us and that the two of you catch up later?"

Bart shrugged, "Sure, it's okay. Tell her I said…" Bart found his voice left him as he looked past Lisa and saw Alex across the street, sitting with Maggie, her face all bruised up.

Lisa, at first, didn't know why Bart stopped in what he was saying and then it hit her.

"Bart?" She asked.

Bart's eyes didn't leave Alex, even when, in a flat, serious tone, he asked Lisa, "Was it Jeremy, who did this?"

Lisa swallowed hard. "Bart, please don't…"

"Was it, Lise." He asked again, this time more rigid.

"Yes, but Bart…" Lisa began, but Bart didn't stay to hear it. Instead he pulled out and thundered down the opposite street.

Lisa ran back to the others.

"I tried, but he saw you! I think he's on his way to Jeremy's!" Lisa said, in a frantic tone.

Maggie got up, "I'll see if I can beat him there. See you guys later!" Maggie then rushed for the car.

Alex found herself crying and Lisa held and patted her hand as she helped Alex up and then hailed a cab.

* * *

Bart found it hard to let go of the steering wheel when he arrived at the Super 8. His eyes were, venomously, staring directly at the window, where he could see Jeremy walking around in his room. 

His mind full of brutal, vindictive, thoughts, Bart had no other plan for tonight than to make the guy hurt as bad as he hurt Alex.

When he finally got out, Bart marched directly to the door and then saw a bag of bottles someone had laid out for the morning recycling collection.

Picking the bag up and holding it to his side, Bart knocked on the door of the room.

Staying out of view of the peephole, Bart stood at the side of door until Jeremy opened it and Bart delivered a hard right jab to the man's stomach.

As Jeremy belted over, Bart swung, with his left hand, the bag full of bottles, up, hitting Jeremy right in the face and knocking him over onto his back.

Even though Jeremy was struggling to evade him, Bart wasn't going to let the guy have the luxury. Bart belted him several times in various parts of the body until Jeremy seized a pause in Bart's attacks and kicked out, with his leg at Bart's left knee sending Bart to the ground.

Bart, losing the bag as it went to the other side of the room, quickly got up.

Jeremy, panting hard, reached over to his leather satchel, which was lying on the floor, and brought out a gun and pointed it directly at Bart.

Bart suddenly realized why the guy was so content on having the bag with him at all times. It was a means of protecting himself.

Jeremy wiped away the blood that was coming from his cracked lip.

He smiled, "Well, I guess she's right, Simpson. Maybe Alex is better in life without me. Then again, maybe she's better off without you, too."

Jeremy then fired his gun.

All Bart heard was a loud noise. He then felt something sharp and painful coming from his chest and looked down to see a red stain that kept on growing.

Looking up, Bart noticed that both Jeremy and the room were slowly turning black and spinning at a rapid speed.

Jeremy watched as Bart fell with a thud to the floor.

_Now that he's out of the way, Alex should be easier to deal with_. Jeremy thought as he picked himself up off the ground and headed to the door, which swung open.

Nelson, Jimbo, Dolph, and Kearney were standing at the entrance. Nelson had brass knuckles, Jimbo, a set of bike chains, Dolph, a knotted rope, and Kearney had a two-by-four.

Jeremy held his gun up in front of him only to have it swatted away by Nelson.

"Well, men, we have a rabid dog that needs to be put down." Nelson said as he and the others moved in on the shaking Jeremy Hawthorne.

Moments later, Maggie had arrived watching the four guys drag the bashed up form of Jeremy, who was making low breathing sounds, but didn't appear to be conscience. Numerous bruises, cuts, splinters, abrasions, and welts were visible on what had once been his clear face.

To Maggie, he looked more like a Picasso painting.

Nelson shoved him inside the police car, which had came before Maggie had, and he then gave the officer a wad of cash.

"Make sure he gets a 24 hour a day, constant, companion. Transfer someone from OZ, if you have to."

The cop nodded in agreement.

Seeing Bart's car, Maggie went to the others.

"Where's Bart?" She asked.

Jimbo, Dolph, and Kearney looked away, while Nelson put a hand on Maggie's shoulder.

"Uh, Mags', just so you know, an ambulance is on its way. The dude isn't looking too good."

Maggie's eyes grew wide with fear.

"Why? What happened!"

Nelson tried both to explain and then to hold Maggie as she tore from his grip and went running to the Motel room.

Coming to a complete stop at the entrance, Maggie looked in every direction inside until she spotted what she feared most.

Lying on the floor, face down, in a small pool of blood was the form of her brother.

Maggie took small steps toward him and then found her legs completely useless as she fell to the floor beside her brother and then she collapsed on top of him as she cried out loud in agony.

_**To be continued…**_

_**SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS**_

**A/N II:** I hope I didn't abuse the Teen rated genre with this. I felt this only went far enough to be considered mildly violent. I know this is a stretch from where the Simpsons usually go, but I remember watching an episode where Marge is traumatized by a mugging she experiences and then bulks up and beats the crap out of the guy who mugged her. So, hopefully this will be up to that measure. Please, those of you who read this chapter, review after you've read it. It'll help me out to make the next one, the one you want as well as I.

**A/N III**: Bart's badly hurt, will he make it alive? Will Lisa find a new job? Will there be any more "rabid dogs" that Nelson and his men will take care of? How many guys has Maggie had to kiss up to? Find out all this and more on the next exciting chapter of Bart Simpson: Attorney at Law!!!

_**Q-n-P**_


	16. The Total Eclipse of the Bart

Usually, when Alex had ever sat down with the Simpson family there was always laughter or discussion. It was one of the biggest things that she liked about the family.

However, now, no sound was made by anyone.

Sitting outside of the Emergency Room, nobody commented on anything.

It was only till Dr. Hibbert came that there was any movement at all from the family.

"How's my darling boy?" Marge asked, her eyes red from crying.

Dr. Hibbert smiled, "Oh, he's gone to a better place now."

The whole family gasped.

"To the prep station to go to the O.R." Dr. Hibbbert gave away to laughter.

"Your son is alright, Mrs. Simpson. He's just needs to go in for surgery to we can see what damage has been done where."

Marge let out a huge sigh that Alex guessed she'd been carrying with her since they arrived.

**Chapter Sixteen: The total eclipse of the Bart**

Sitting with the family in the waiting room, Alex went through last night's events in her head.

Shortly before getting news of Bart having been shot, Alex had been interviewed by the police for a statement involving Jeremy Hawthorne who they had in custody for blackmailing and attempted murder.

Murder of whom, Alex didn't know, at the time. Only after giving her statement and the police taking photos of her for record, did she get the phone call from Lisa that she was here with the rest of the family.

A grief stricken Maggie told everyone what she had found when she went to the Springfield Super 8 Motel.

Alex, at first, was in tears because, with the way everyone had been acting, it seemed like she had lost Bart forever, now she was worried sick that the family, her family, would not recover from this whole ordeal.

Many people came by to pay their respects to the family, and some to Alex, those who knew about her relationship with Bart, that is.

"Hey, Alex. Bummer about Bart, huh?" Milhouse said.

Alex sighed, "Yeah, Milhouse. Bummer." She then looked around; "Samantha didn't come with you?"

Milhouse shook his head, "Nah, she's at the doctor's having a check up done, but I guess you'll find out about all that probably soon enough."

Alex looked at Milhouse with a raised eyebrow; "Why do you say that?"

"Well, you're going to get married to Bart, right? After that usually is the time when you start planning a family."

Alex stood up and put a hand out; "Whoa, there, buddy. Let's get one thing straight, okay? Bart and I both agreed that we want to enjoy being a young married couple, we're not in any rush to join the PTA any time soon."

Milhouse's face turned red, "Sorry, Alex. I didn't mean to gang up on you with that."

Alex sat back down; "It's alright. I know you mean well."

"It's just, when Bart and Gina were together they wouldn't shut up about the whole damn baby thing. It was a constant subject with them. But, now that he's with you, maybe he's gotten a little smarter and deciding to wait. I wish Samantha and I choose to wait, she's told me she still wants four after this one." Milhouse said as he stretched.

Alex was afraid of this. She knew getting together with Bart might end up with some unsettling comparisons between her and Gina made by the whole town. However, one thing that made her happy was Bart's family never did any of that. They fully adjusted to when they were together and even more so when the announced their engagement.

Alex decided, there, to put what Milhouse had said in the back of her mind and no longer give it any thought.

Alex had spent the rest of the afternoon sitting with Lisa.

"Lise, Is it true that in High School Bart and Gina talked a lot about starting up a family?"

Lisa looked at Alex with surprise. Setting down the Entertainment Weekly, she was reading, she put a hand on Alex's.

"How and where did this all come up?"

Alex sighed, "Milhouse."

Lisa nodded, fully understanding, now.

"Is it true?" Alex asked.

Lisa nodded, "Yeah. But, you have to understand how it all came about. It happened because, one night, Homer got a late night phone call from a one person he hadn't spoken to in a long time and he decided not to tell Mom, about it. This woman, to Mom, at one time, had her strongly believe that she was out to ruin her marriage to Dad. Laurleen Lumpkin was just calling to get a reference for a job; but Dad still was afraid of telling Mom. Anyways, for the third time, Mom kicked Dad out of the house and he went to stay with Grampa at the retirement home. Both Bart and I were afraid this was it and the two were going to get a divorce. I was just worried, but Bart really went berserk about this. He was calling up Gina a lot and the two of them, at one point, discussed about maybe running away and starting a family."

Alex shook her head in amazement. "I can't believe you never talked about this with me, before, Lise. You know I was there for you."

Lisa sighed, "I know. I just thought that our little family drama was going to go away like it always does. Luckily it did. Dad has always been good at apologizing and soon he was back home. Bart, I think, wasn't back to himself, though. He still, in his room had a map and a plan for Gina and himself, if the time should ever come."

Alex looked down at the floor, trying to absorb what she had heard and put her own perspective on it.

Her thoughts were interrupted when a nurse came out and addressed the whole family.

"Doctor Hibbert would like to see all of you, it's urgent." She said.

Alex had found herself to be the last person to enter Dr. Hibbert's room. She had to go to the bathroom before following the others in.

It seemed that everyone had waited for her before having the doctor tell them what the urgency was.

Sitting down in a chair, next to Maggie, Lisa nodded to the Doctor to continue.

"Now then, I'll bet you're all wondering why I called you here. First, let me start by saying, Bart is out of immediate danger."

The room echoed with deep exhaled breaths from the family.

"So, what's the problem, then?" Asked Homer.

Dr. Hibbert got up and came around and then sat at the edge of his desk.

"When Bart was shot, the bullet severed an artery which caused rapid bleeding. Now, we were able to both remove the bullet and seal the wound, but he's still in an immediate need of transfusions. With Bart's rare blood type, it's hard to come by."

Lisa nodded, remembering her brother's double O negative had helped Mr. Burns who also had it. Bart was the only person in Springfield who was able to help him, because it was rare.

"Now, we've been using AB type blood to help keep him alive, but the only problem, THE problem, actually, is that we've ran out."

Lisa leaned forward. "Ran out? How is that possible?"

Dr. Hibbert chuckled, "Jackass: Four was filming here in Springfield, about a week ago. Steve-O cleaned us out."

"So the hospital doesn't have any more bags?" Marge asked.

Dr. Hibbert shook his head.

"What about outside donors or bags, is the hospital accepting from other hospitals and clinics?" Asked Alex.

Dr. Hibbert sighed, "We're trying that right now. But, I have to tell you, if we don't find Bart's blood type within the next forty-eight hours, we might lose him."

Later, exiting Dr. Hibbert's office, the group was greeted by a tall man with graying hair, in an expensive business suit.

Both Lisa and Maggie came running to this man, shouting, "Uncle Herb!"

Her Powell gave both of his nieces a huge hug.

"Lisa! Maggie! How the hell are ya?" He asked, letting go of them and looking at the two of them.

Maggie pulled Herb, by his arm, over to Alex.

"We're fine, as always. There's someone we'd like you to meet, though. Uncle Herb, this is Alex. Alex is Bart's fiancée."

Alex was a little embarrassed by this quick intro, but was soon excepting it as Herb took her hand and kissed it.

"So, this is the dame who snared my nephew's heart. How are you Alex?" He asked, smiling.

Alex blushed, "I'm okay. It's so great to meet you, finally. I've heard so much about you from Lisa."

Herb brushed a hand in the air, dismissivly. "Aww, they all exaggerate. C'mere, I want hear all about how you and Bart happened."

Homer walked up to Herb, "It's great to see you, brother."

Herb turned around and punched Homer in the face.

"Ow! What the hell? I thought we were passed all that!" Homer yelled as he rubbed his face.

Herb chuckled nervously, then patted Homer on the back, "Sorry Homer, old habits die hard, huh? I know it's hard with you and Bart." Referring to Homer choking Bart.

"How's the boy, Marge?" He asked Marge.

Marge sighed, "Not good. Dr. Hibbert told us that Bart needs an emergency blood transfusion, only, Springfield has none to give, due to Bart's rare blood type."

"Where is that filth, that did this to him? I want to spend some quality time softening the guy up!" Herb said as he made exaggerated movements with his hands.

Maggie, nervously chuckled, "Uh, he's in prison, Uncle Herb. He got arrested after… after they found Bart."

Herb nodded and then turned back to Marge and Homer.

"Don't you two worry. I won't rest until I can find any means of getting that blood for our Bart."

Herb walked with the family to the cafeteria while talking with Alex about her relationship with Bart.

* * *

Homer, Herb, and Marge had decided to go home and get some sleep. Maggie had to go to her dance class, which left Lisa and Alex the only ones at the hospital.

While they were there, there had been only a select few of people who had dropped by to either wish luck or give their condolences of the tragic event.

Nelson came by to see how Lisa was doing, Milhouse and Samantha had came by to pay visit, Ralph came with them but wasn't sure why Bart was in the hospital.

Lisa had gone to talk with Alison and Janey, who had came by recently, leaving Alex alone in the cafeteria.

"Alex? How're you doing?"

Alex turned around to see Laura Powers and her daughter walking over to her.

Alex sighed, "I'm doing fine, I guess."

Laura sat down across from her at the table and put Gloria on the floor, next to her chair, and then looked back at Alex.

"The news papers only gave a glimpse of what had happened to him. I was hoping you or Lisa could fill the gap."

Alex tried her best to give account what had happened over the past couple of days, only pausing at the part of what she used to do for Jeremy.

When she finished, Laura shook her head in amazement.

"He must really be crazy about you to go to such lengths." Laura then spotted the ring on Alex's finger. "Then again, maybe he has to. Look at the size of that rock!" she then reached out and took Alex's hand and looked at the ring.

She looked at Alex, "How long has it been since he popped the question?"

"Less than a week." Alex replied, blushing as she took her hand back.

Laura smiled, "Well, congratulations."

Alex thanked her and the two then discussed about how the building Alex had gotten from Laura was looking.

* * *

All around Springfield, the news about Bart's life, now, being on the line was spreading fast.

In Springfield Elementary, Edna Krabapple-Skinner stared absent-mindedly out the window as a student of hers raised their hand.

"Uh, Mrs. K? Is everything alright?" He asked.

She turned to him and smiled, "Yeah. Everything's fine. Now, everyone get ready for a surprise exam."

The whole class groaned.

Edna was hoping, for the sake of nostalgia, that one of them would come up with a lame excuse and ask to be dismissed.

None did.

Edna sighed. Did this job lose all of its perks the moment Bart had decided to do better and leave it all behind?

Edna, then fished out a cigarette and took in a drag.

She smiled.

_Not yet, anyways_. She thought.

Across town at the Kwik-E-Mart, Apu had a man sitting outside of the convince store, who was dressed in a American Redcross uniform, and sitting beside him was a sign that had Apu on it with a word bubble that read: "Free squishee with blood donation!"

At Moe's, Barney looked around.

"Hey Moe, aren't ya going to contribute to little Bart's health?"

Moe shook his head, "Are ya kidding? With the amount of booze, in you bums, he'll be lucky if he doesn't slip into a coma after getting your blood."

Just as the family had been told, there was none in Springfield who would be able to help out Bart.

Then again, maybe there was…

Wayland Smithers paced back and forth outside of Mr. Burns' room, trying to come up with the best way to ask about this. He knew this maybe the only chance the Simpson's boy would get, but getting Monty to do it, was a huge task. That and asking him.

* * *

Back at the hospital, Alex and Lisa came to Bart's room.

Watching his escalating breathing, which was preformed by a machine he was attached to, Alex felt saddened by his appearance.

Lisa walked across to the chair that was next to the bed and sat down in it. She placed a hand on her brother's and closed her eyes and whispered, "We miss you. Please, come back to us."

Lisa, then, planted a kiss on Bart's forehead and got up and left. Leaving Alex alone in the room with Bart.

Alex walked over and took the seat and laid her head on Bart's chest, thinking.

_We've been through worse, you and I. I know, in my heart, you're hearing my thoughts and I want you to know how much I love you, idiot._

Alex kissed him on his luke-warm lips and then followed Lisa, who was waiting by the door, out.

The two of them headed back to the cafeteria where Lisa stopped, leaving Alex almost knocking into her.

"Lisa, what…?" Alex began, but was cut off when Lisa grabbed her arm.

Alex looked to where Lisa was looking.

Inside the cafeteria, on the far end was Maggie. But she wasn't alone.

Gina was there, talking to her.

At first, Alex had the impression, that, Lisa's intention was to turn the opposite way and go somewhere else. She didn't. Instead, she walked all the way to where the two were seated and she stopped in front of them.

Alex followed her and stopped behind her.

Both Maggie and Gina looked up at the both of them.

No one spoke for a minute, and then Lisa sat down next to her sister and said, "Thank you for coming."

Lisa shocked both Alex and Maggie with those words.

Gina, on the other hand, smiled and nodded.

Alex sat down on the opposite side of Maggie, "Where have you been? It seems, after the trial, that you were planning on leaving."

Gina nodded, "I was. Maggie called me and told me what happened. I wanted to come and see how he was doing." She then looked around. "That bitch isn't here, is she?"

Maggie smiled and shook her head. "No. Nor do I think she would. Jessica would have been arrested if she came into city limits."

"Good. Gina replied.

The talk changed to Gina apologizing to Lisa and explaining to her as she had done to Maggie about double crossing the family again and telling her how much she hoped that Bart would soon recover.

Lisa had accepted it and inquired what was next for Gina.

"I'm going back to college. I'm not sure whether or not Bart had told you this but I dropped out when I went the first time and so I want to go back and go into Health Administration, again."

"Well, I'm sure you'll be able to see it out, this time." Lisa said.

* * *

Lisa and Maggie had to go pick up Marge, since Homer was at work; leaving Gina and Alex alone.

The question was burning in her mind and since they had come to the table, Alex had been unable to ask it, in fear to what the reply might be. She finally decided to go ahead and get it out of the way.

"Gina? Lisa and Milhouse told me that, back when we were in high school, you and Bart had plans to start a family as soon as the two of you graduated, is this true?"

Gina was at first surprised by the question, she then laughed and nodded.

"Yeah, that happened. Bart really had his mind set on getting the whole "Family" thing rolling."

"You didn't?" Alex asked.

Gina shook her head. "Nah, it wasn't for me. I mean, sure, at that time, I said I would. All because I was crazy for the dope, but c'mon, we were young. Why do you ask?"

Alex sighed, "This may have been the wrong person to get this sort of information from, but Milhouse told me that Bart has always been insane for starting a family right away. You know, kids and the whole mix."

Gina nodded, "You're right. "Four-eyes" isn't exactly what you'd call the best person to get info from. You've got to understand, though, Bart changed when he got older. He did want a steady girlfriend but he didn't want to take it any further than that. Hell, when I came back to him two years ago and we started dating again, it was me, this time, who tried to talk him into taking our relationship further and he declined saying he wanted to take things slow."

Alex shook her head in amazement, learning this new information.

Gina took Alex's left hand and lifted it up, "But you've got to tell me, sister, is how the hell did you manage to get him to go to the next step?"

Alex gulped, "Honestly, I don't know. I woke up one morning and found the ring box in my hand and then Bart purposed to me. He told me, at one point, that I was the "missing link" in his life. He said he felt happier at the idea of being with me than he did with anyone else."

Gina nodded and smiled, "Well, I guess you've succeeded where we have failed. On thing I've noticed is that Bart's seems happier with you than he did with me, so I guess it's a done deal between you two."

Alex smiled, "I guess."

"Look, don't get hung up on what Milhouse Van Houten's told you. The poor boy didn't get laid until he was old enough to drink and now he's already raising a family. I'll bet you and Bart will have many good years before the two of you decide to call it closed and settle down to raise the next generation of hell-raisers."

Alex laughed, "Yeah. Thanks, Gina, that meant a lot to me."

"No problem." The women then hugged and turned the conversation to other things.

* * *

Homer was making a house of cards using sugar packets when Milhouse came nervously to his desk.

"Uh, Mr. Simpson?" He asked, casing Homer to drop a packet.

"D'oh! Wiener-boy! How many times did I tell you not to gang up on me like that?"

"Uh, sorry, sir, but, uh, you've got a visitor." Milhouse stepped aside and Mr. Smithers walked in.

"Ah! Mr. Smithers! I, uh, I was just taking a break!" Homer said frantically as he was clearing away the packets from his desk.

"Relax, Simpson, I don't work here anymore, remember?" Mr. Smithers said as he walked in and sat in the chair in front of the desk.

"So, uh, what brings you here?" Asked Homer.

Mr. Smithers sighed, "I want to help your boy, but in order to do that I need YOUR help."

Homer sat down, listening intently.

"Remember when Mr. Burns was diagnosed with hypothemia and his only means of survival was your boy?"

Homer thought for a moment, "Kind of…was that when I was almost fired?"

Smithers sighed, "Well, yes. Anyways, my point is, without the help of your son, Mr. Burns would have never been able to live as long as he has. Therefore, I'd like us to help you out."

"So what's the problem? Have Mr. Burns come down to the hospital to help the boy." Homer said, folding his arms.

"I wish it were that simple. Lately, Mr. Burns has become…chaotic. Becoming 132 years old isn't agreeing with him and now he's even refusing to let me rub his feet! It's become so crazy. I can't even begin to imagine what he'd do if I came up and asked him of this. That's why I'm asking you to help me start an intervention."

Homer scratched his head, "A what kind of invention?"

Smithers shook his head, in despair.

After thirty more minutes of explanation, Homer at least got the gist of what Smithers had in mind, and soon Homer, along with Marge, Lisa, and Milhouse, because he was in the room at the time, accompanied Smithers back to Mr. Burns' estate to talk with the man.

Charles Montgomery Burns has been staying in his room for more than a decade. After hearing of his radiation sickness he had decided to give up his beloved plant, just so he'd be able to feel his toes again, as much as everything else.

Being heavily medicated and spending time in a germ-free container, he scowled as he looked up from his bed and saw the horde that was accompanying Smithers.

"Smithers…what…is the meaning…of this?" He asked in ragged gasps.

Smithers took a deep breath before entering.

"Monty, we have a favor we need to make."

Mr. Burns looked narrowingly at Smithers and the bunch as he searched a round for the "hounds" button.

"Oh, really? What on earth could it be?" He said, he then found the button and pressed it several times.

Smithers whispered at the bunch, "I've disconnected the "hounds" button."

Homer stepped up and rubbed the back of his neck, "Uh, Mr. Burns. This would really mean a lot for us if you would do this, sir."

Mr. Burns glowered at Homer until he stepped back.

"Monty, please. This boy could really use your help." Smithers said, pleadingly.

"No. Smithers." Mr. Burns aid, turning his head away.

"Your turn." Smithers said to Marge.

Marge walked up to Mr. Burns. "Mr. Burns, our son Bart is very sick and is in need of a blood transfusion of your type. Bart helped you out once in the past by giving you his blood. Please, sir, can't you return the favor?"

Mr. Burns laughed cold heartidly, "Madam, take a look. If I were to donate any blood, I'd die. Smithers, take these fools away, it's almost time for "Everybody loves Raymond"."

Smithers sighed, "Well, I guess we tried."

Lisa, however, was not ready to give up. She marched forward and was about three feet away from Mr. burns and when she came a foot closer he lifted his arms to shield himself.

"Listen, you! For years I've been nothing but courteous to you when deep down in my soul I know it was a wrong choice to make! You are the vilest thing on this planet; you're a virus that's managed to live long after many healthier things have passed on! You, Mr. Burns, are coming with us. I will not abandon my brother nor his fiancée just because you don't "feel like it"." Lisa vented and she grabbed Mr. Burns by the collar of his pajama shirt.

Mr. Burns, who at first was startled by Lisa's roughness, frowned, "Well, why didn't you say so? Smithers! My coat."

* * *

Alex was finding herself in an odd situation. Both her and Maggie were in the cafeteria surrounded by girls Bart had either dated or had a fling with in the past.

The most infamous of these women to come and pay their respects was Greta Wolfcastle, Rainer's daughter. Greta had become a Public Relations spokesperson for Paramount Pictures and when she had come a lot of people, orderlies and staff came rushing to her asking for her autograph.

However, when the others introduced her to Alex, Greta was the one who was awe struck.

"Wow, so you're the one who's tamed the bad boy?" She said.

Alex blushed, "Yeah, I guess I am.

At the table, Gina, Greta, Laura, and Alex all took turns talking about Bart Simpson, which made Alex feel better and better.

All of these women kept on asking Alex to tell them about how she and Bart became an item in such little time and all could relate on Bart's generous, sweet, nature.

"It first started out with me hating him for how he treated me in high school. Then, I began finding out things about him I never knew, which had me liking him. It all fell into place when we went to the High School reunion and we shared our first kiss out by the docks."

Alex then told them about how he got here and the confrontation with Jeremy.

"Bart's such an idiot when he thinks he needs to save somebody." Gina said, smiling.

"I remember when we were little and there were bullies trying to take my bag away. Bart stood up to them and it was then that I developed my first crush." Said Greta.

"I don't think Jimbo will ever know that it was actually Bart that stopped his wandering hands, and not Moe." Laura said, laughing.

"I remember when I met Bart in Juvie and when telling him how I had no family, he had his family have dinner with me." Said Gina, which made the others go "Aww."

Maggie, on the other hand, was a little put off by this discussion. To her, these women were talking as though Bart had died and they were attending his wake.

The discussions were dropped, however, when Lisa came bursting through the door.

"Maggie! Alex! We've found a donor! They're working on Bart as we speak."

A cheer broke out from the table and Alex found happy tears come from her eyes.

The other women took turns hugging her as did Lisa and Maggie.

The next half hour was spent waiting outside until Dr. Hibbert came out and told Alex and the Simpson family, that Bart would be okay.

Lisa went to use a phone to deliver the news around town while Marge and Homer went in to see Bart.

Maggie went in after them and soon came out announcing that Bart was awake.

Unfortunately, when Alex came in to see him, Bart was asleep. It didn't matter, though. To her, knowing that their lives were going to continue was all that mattered.

* * *

Lisa, after hearing that her brother had awakened hours before, was about to enter the room until she saw Alex nestled next to her brother on the bed.

Smiling she closed the door and walked away, deciding to visit another time.

Inside the room, Bart Simpson slowly opened his eyes and he took account to where he was. Remembering, vaguely of being in a white room, surrounded by people, this one was dark. Bart tried to move his right arm but found it being held down by some weight. Turning his head, he found out what that weight was.

Alex had fallen fast asleep and had her arms wrapped around Bart's right one, holding tightly to her body.

Bart smiled and managed to move his head enough so he was able to plant a kiss on her forehead.

He notice her stirring after doing that and the remained still, again.

Bart closed his eyes and shifted his body, slightly, so he was closer to her and then he quickly went back asleep.

_**To be continued…**_

_**SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS**_

**A/N**: There have been questions asked to me as to why I let it drag on before going to the trial concerning Bart and Jessica. The reason for that is because to me it was important to establish both Bart and Alex's realization of their attraction to the other and how, over a span of time, they'd both come to realize what they gained by being with eachother. The matter with Bart and Jessica was a means to push the protagonists closer together and to give the reader of this series a reason to support these two as a couple.

**A/N II**: Bart's well again, but the drama's not over yet folks. Many traps lie ahead for our couple and will they persevere? Find out on the next exciting chapter of Bart Simpson: Attorney at Law!!!

_**Q-n-P**_


	17. How to make an American Guilttrip

It took two days until Dr. Hibbert announced that Bart was able to leave the hospital.

Fortunately, upon giving the transfusion, Mr. Burns also had a speedy recovery and was discharged even before Bart had awakened.

Herb was also excited, because was he wouldn't have been able to get Bart the blood he needed, due to America's war in Iran.

Alex was the one who helped him out of the hospital by wheelchair, and Bart was grateful.

Bart was a little overwhelmed, however, seeing three faces so close to his past.

Gina, Laura, and Greta had all came to see him on his way out.

After saying goodbye to all these women, Bart looked up at Alex as she pushed him down and out of the hall.

"I'm sorry if their coming here made you uncomfortable in anyway."

Alex smiled as she soon got him out of the building.

"It really wasn't that bad, Bart. We're all glad you came out of this in one piece."

Bart smiled and nodded.

The two had reached the parking lot, where Milhouse was waiting with Martin's borrowed van.

It was decided that Milhouse would drive Bart around town until Bart was feeling better.

**Chapter Seventeen: How to make an American guilt-trip  
**

As Lisa Simpson walked around town with Nelson Muntz, she could tell that she was actually enjoying herself, which was a little weird.

Lisa, in her mind, had never imagined that she'd be going out with Nelson due to his reputation of being the hard-ass around town.

However, recently, he had thrown that impression she had of him out the window, as he showed the new older side of him, which Lisa appreciated.

Being accepting of those who did not fully meet his demands was a pleasant change for Lisa.

His job status as a bouncer still brought fear to those who've misbehaved at Moe's, and it seemed those reactions were now also given to Lisa.

Everyone around town seemed to take a certain precaution when talking with Lisa, which she felt was a little unnerving. Grant it, she DID like spending time with him and she was rediscovering her childhood crush that she had on the man. but she still was preparing herself for the time when she knew Nelson would only come to show that he was still the guy he was seventeen years ago.

Lisa was still happy with him, not at all disappointed.

The two walked around the corner of the Al's Pancakes and were about to walk further until something cause Lisa to stop.

Nelson, a little irritated by the abruptness, turned to her.

"What?" He asked.

Lisa pointed.

Across the street, The Jazz Hole, a place that held so much for Lisa when she was younger, had a for sale sign outside.

"Oh, no." Lisa said in a sad low tone.

Nelson looked in the direction she was looking and shrugged, "Sometimes, things have got to go."

Lisa scowled at him and jerked her hand away from his.

"How can you be so insensitive? The Jazz Hole was like another home to me."

Nelson shifted, uncomfortably. "Sorry, Lisa."

Lisa turned away, "Just go. I need to be alone, for right now."

Lisa heard him mutter something, what it was she didn't care, and then she heard him leaving.

Lisa turned around and walked across the street to the building that had been one of the few places she could find solitude. As she stood about three feet from it, more memories took hold of her and she tearfully recalled the moments she had spent with her muse, the late Bleeding Gums Murphy.

A barrage of images flashed in her mind. Ones of her when she was younger looking up at her mentor on that cold night playing on the edge of a bridge. It then changed to Lisa sitting with her family in the club she was looking at, listening happily as Murphy belted out her sorrowful song of being the daughter of her father's. Then, the last image that flashed, which brought tears to her eyes, was the one when she had last spent with Murphy. Inside the hospital playing a duet with the man just before he gave up his sax to her and had passed the night following.

Lisa wiped away a tear and she then sat down on the street corner, thinking.

_Now, the last place I've found peace in is going to be taken away from me._

She then looked up at the building and noticed, suddenly, a name that appeared with the for sale announcement.

An urge flowed through Lisa and she found herself determined not to have everything she had lost to be in vain.

Taking out a pen and a piece of torn paper, Lisa wrote down the number of the realtor selling the property.

* * *

Maggie was finding herself in a difficult position. She was outside taking a break, smoking, and a parent of one of the new kids she was supervising at the rock-climbing area of the center, and confronted her about her habit. 

"Don't you realize what you're doing to your body?" Said the woman, pointedly.

Maggie extinguished the half-smoked cigarette against her shoe and nodded.

"Yeah. I do."

The women put her hands against her hips, "Miss Simpson, if the children see you doing this, they'll think it's okay. They all look up to you; thinking you're like a big sister. Don't you want to set a good example for them?"

Maggie sighed, "I've been trying to quit for the past three years. It's hard. Besides, I always tell them not to bother me when I'm on my break, and they've always listened."

The mother shook her head, "That's not always going to work. One day one of them isn't going to listen and they'll find you out here doing this to yourself."

Maggie rolled her eyes, "What would you like me to do, then? I've tried everything: gum, patches, lozenges, herbal remedies, everything."

The woman reached into her purse and pulled out a pamphlet, and gave it to Maggie.

"Believe it or not, I used to smoke when I was around your age as well. These people helped me."

Maggie took the pamphlet and looked at it skeptically.

"What is this, some sort of seminar or group discussion, thing?"

The woman sighed, "Look, if you're comfortable about your habit, I'm not going to force you, but when it comes to my child and the children of the other parents' I need to makes sure I'm comfortable with whomever those kids are set up with. I'm know you're doing a wonderful job with them, Miss Simpson, but I think I'm going to recommend to your boss that he have someone else to look after them. I can't afford to take the risk of any of them seeing what you do on your breaks and think that it's acceptable because they like you."

Maggie looked down at the pamphlet and up at the woman.

"If I do this, you aren't going to go and speak with my boss?"

The woman nodded. "Just go and see if you can gain anything by meeting these people. Who knows, you might find out that you can quit by attending these sessions."

Maggie hated ultimatums, but she knew if she ever wanted to see those kids again and be able to be on good terms with her boss that this was the way to do it.

"Alright. I'll go." She said.

* * *

Bart's chest hurt like hell and he found, at times, it was hard to breathe. Dr. Hibbert had prescribed some Demerol and other pain medications. Bart was relieved that it was in small dosages because he knew he never wanted to get addicted to the painkillers. He remembered, in High School, after a snow boarding accident that Milhouse had been given some painkillers and was addicted to them at a dangerous level. Helping him through that was a nightmare. 

Milhouse was determined to make sure Bart was taking the right dosage as well.

Bart knew he couldn't have had a better friend than this one.

Milhouse also made sure that all the alcohol was removed from Bart's apartment and that whenever he took his medication that it was taken either with decaffeinated-tea, water, or fruit juice. Bart was discouraged from taking anything that was a stimulant or a depressant.

Other than the tediousness of getting well again, Bart was bored. Alex was busy getting her store ready so she could begin designing the clothes. This meant that her times with Bart were becoming littler and littler with each passing day. Bart also found that his work from the office wasn't coming to him, that his associates had decided to divide up his cases and just to call and fill Bart in on each one.

Bart was bored and it was driving him insane.

Using his cane, Bart fumbled around his apartment trying to find anything to do.

He remembered the time when he had broken his leg and Lisa had given him her telescope to occupy his time while the other kids enjoyed the pool Homer got for Bart and Lisa. Bart, at first thought of giving Lisa a call and see about getting it back, again, but he knew she probably would be against him using it. The last time he did, it resulted in a misunderstanding with Ned Flanders whom Bart thought murdered his wife. Lisa was probably wise not to let Bart have it now, considering how much medication Bart was on.

Bart decided to maybe just let the TV drown him and he sat down and grabbed the remote.

Turning on the set, Krusty, who was in his in his fifties, was still doing the shtick he's always been good at. Sideshow Mel, who retired when he wrote an autobiography telling his dickenzien-like childhood which rose to him starring in one of the twentieth centuries' most beloved children's program. After unsuccessfully trying to go at it alone, Krusty was forced to find a replacement. The one he found, however, didn't speak any English. Sideshow Tassu was of Inuit origin and would only stare absent-mindedly at Krusty's antics. The audience loved this, only because Krusty couldn't make him do anything, which led to Krusty shouting.

"C'mon! You're getting paid! I want you to jump through the flaming hoop! Jump!"

Sideshow Tassu looked at him and then said something, to which Krusty sighed and then turned to the camera.

"Here's Itchy and Scratchy, we'll be right back."

Bart stretched, which caused him to wince and he waited till the pain subsided and then sat back down on the sofa.

_Maybe some good ol' quality time with the tube is what I need._ He thought.

Bart got himself some tea and then settled down to watch some of his old friends.

* * *

To both Lisa's surprise and luck the realtor that was handling The Jazz Hole property was none other than Laura Powers. Lisa was happier when she was able to get an appointment with Laura and the two met at Jimbo's for lunch. 

Laura was a little under the weather when she met up with Lisa. Having been battling a cold for two days, she still remained professional as she shook Lisa's hand as the two sat down.

Blowing her nose on a Kleenex, she apologetically put it away and then looked at the menu.

"So…I think I'll have the Cesar Salad and…maybe some hot tea." Laura told the waiter.

"And you, Miss?" He asked Lisa.

"The same." She said.

After the waiter left, Laura began to go into the sale and much to Lisa's disappointment there has already been a bid placed on the property.

"Which was odd, because I met this woman before." Laura said.

"Before the property came up for sale?" Lisa asked.

Laura nodded, "I met her in the hospital, when Bart was there. She actually is an old acquaintance of his."

"Who?" Lisa asked. Lisa struggled with her mind to remember if she saw anyone else at the hospital besides Laura and Gina. She knew it wasn't Gina and it obviously wasn't Laura.

Laura brought out a piece of paper and wrote down some information.

"I can't give you her name due to client privileges, so here's her number so if you want to get in touch with her. I know it's hard for you to up her price since she put quite a bid on the place."

Lisa nodded and took the number and put it into her purse.

The two then discussed about The Jazz Hole and what Lisa planned to do if Lisa was able to get hold of it.

* * *

"Kicking The Butt" was the name of the support group that Maggie was referred to by the mother of one of her kids. The name was humorous and Maggie decided it was worth to at least to sit in on one of their discussions. 

It was a typical quitting program, they had coffee laid out and some appetizers such as bread sticks and some other quick eats as people sat around in folding chairs inside the High School GYM.

Maggie hadn't been to this GYM in so long, she felt a little nervous coming here as she was afraid to run into some faculty who would, no doubt, confront her on her dropping out and lecture her on the importance of a High School education. Although Maggie had already earned her G.E.D she still knew that these people would still gang up on her about the choice she made several years ago.

She was right. The person leading the group discussion was her old Science teacher, Mr. Hall. As soon as he spotted her sitting far away from the others, he approached her.

"Margaret Simpson, so glad to see you in this group."

Maggie politely shook the man's hand.

"I'm happy that you decided to take this, it was hard for me, as your teacher, to see you doing something as poisonous as smoking."

Maggie faked an agreeing smile and nod.

"So, are you still pursuing your dancing career?" He asked, pulling up a chair and sat across from her.

Maggie nodded, "I'm graduating this spring."

Mr. Hall sighed, "I know you're probably sick of others telling you this, but, I still wish you graduated from High School. You had such great potential."

To Maggie, that comment stung, but it wasn't the first time she had heard it.

As other people were coming in Mr. Hall got up.

"Could you come closer, into the group? It'll be easier for me."

Maggie sighed and did as she was asked.

As others came in, she looked around to see if there were any that she recognized, but to her disappointment, she didn't recognize anybody.

Mr. Hall stood in the center of the "U" shaped area of where the chairs were and had a rolling marker board next to him, which had "Welcome smokers!" in big letters.

To Maggie's surprise every chair was filled and the people in the group gave Mr. Hall their full attention.

"Welcome, everybody. I'm Robert Hall, or as some of you who have children that go here know me as Mr. Hall. You can either call me Rob or Mr. Hall, and as we go along, you can tell me what you'd prefer to be called."

He then turned to the board and started writing down short phrases such as "Why I smoke", "When I Started Smoking", and finally, "Why I want to quit".

Maggie anxiously looked at her watch and moaned quietly to herself.

Mr. Hall, once he finished writing, turned to the group.

"We're going to start by introducing ourselves and state, in short, why we're smoking now. First, I'd like you all to know that I used to smoke, did it for four years as means to medicate myself after my divorce, and tried unsuccessfully to quit numerous amounts of time. It was only when I saw the faces of my students and how they reacted when I reeked of it, did I finally have the determination to see it out. That and the "Kicking the Butt" 's $49.95 plan which helped me get out of the tobacco stores."

Maggie, who was looking at the floor, at the time, looked up in alarm.

_What?_

Mr. Hall went to a man who had an eye patch.

"Why did you start, mister…?"

"Dawson." He answered. "I started when I was twenty and it was because all my friends were doing it."

Mr. Hall shook his head; "Peer pressure is one of the main things that cause people to smoke."

Mr. Dawson nodded, "Yup. That's how I lost my eye too. All of you should never get into a fork-staring contest, if you know what's good for ya."

Mr. Hall nodded, "You know, Mr. Dawson, you can, for $49.95, get rid of your smoking so you don't have to feel ashamed of that either."

Mr. Dawson thought about it while Mr. Hall went to the next person.

Maggie's mouth was opened in shock.

_I don't believe this! Why is Mr. Hall peddling out this product? Why is everybody not asking why this isn't a class but more a less a sales pitch?_

Soon, Mr. Hall reached Maggie.

"Aw, Miss Simpson, now to you. Folks, I don't need her introduction. This is Maggie Simpson. Maggie used to be a student of mine before she carelessly dropped out of High School to get into less educational studies. Maggie, why do you smoke?"

Maggie glared at Mr. Hall for both this whole charade and the fact he was publicly insulting her.

"I smoke, because I like it!" She said bitterly.

Mr. Hall, not taking any notice to her tone, nodded, "Uh huh, and what started this?"

Maggie knew that she started because she was young and her Aunt Selma did it, but she was so furious at Mr. Hall that she decided to fib.

"You did." She lied.

Mr. Hall took a step back. "What?"

"Smelling the rich scent of tobacco on your clothes when I came into class each day had me lusting after the cancer stick to be placed between my lips and to take in that deep, satisfying, deadly air. I wasn't the only one who felt this way. Other kids in your class felt the same. Yes, sir, if there was anything that we learned in Mr. Hall's class it was that we all loved smoking just as much as he did." Maggie knew she was over doing it but just to see the deep shock in the others' faces and to have Mr. Hall's expression go from calm to fear. Was well worth it.

Mr. Hall cleared his throat as he addressed the others.

"Well, uh, wow! Look at the time. I guess we're going to have to cut today's session short. Uh, class dismissed."

As everyone got up to leave Mr. Hall scowled at Maggie and held her down with his hand on her shoulder.

"Not for you, Miss Simpson."

* * *

Alex walked around her building and smiled. It was nearly completed. 

After spending so many hours debating costs and procedures, the place was finally was coming together.

She was thinking about calling Bart and letting him know what the progress was like, but when she looked at the time she decided against it.

_He's probably sleeping right now. Better let him have his rest._

Getting into a cab and heading to the Simpson's house, a thought crossed Alex's mind.

_Why am I still staying at the house? Bart and I are engaged; shouldn't we be sleeping in the same place?_

With that thought in mind, she held the cab when she arrived and quickly got everything that she owned and told the driver to take her to Bart's apartment.

When she arrived, it was just as she had expected.

Bart was passed out in front of the television set, where the Krusty the Clown marathon was still playing.

Deciding not to awake him, Alex took her suitcase and valuables and put them in his closet, she then took all her toiletry things and put them in the bathroom.

When she had finished, Alex went to the kitchen and got a glass of water and then went over and sat down next to Bart on the sofa.

For a minute or so, she watched Bart who seemed to be dreaming as he was mumbling to himself.

Kissing him on the forehead, she went to the linen closet and got out a blanket and covered both her and Bart as she snuggled up next to him.

Before she fell asleep, Alex could hear Bart saying her name and she noticed a smile creeping across his face.

Alex smiled too, thinking.

_Well Alex Whitney, you've got your man, you're your dream business, your health, and the looks; what more could you ask for?_

Alex then heard Bart mutter something about telling Homer that he wanted to go fishing with Milhouse rather than go to church and asked Homer if he could watch "the kids" for him till he got back.

Alex kissed Bart again.

_There'll be time for that later. _The thought was meant for the both of them.

Bart awoke the next morning and stretched, this time he was relieved that there wasn't any pain that went along with it. To his surprise, he noticed that Alex was fast asleep next to the spot he was.

Smiling, Bart covered her up with his portion of the blanket.

Going to the bathroom Bart reached for his toothbrush. After applying the toothpaste on it he scrubbed his teeth and then stopped.

For some reason Bart couldn't feel any of the bristles on his brush. Instead his whole mouth tasted like paper.

When he pulled it out of his mouth, he discovered, to his horror, that it wasn't his toothbrush. It wasn't anything related to a brush.

It was a tampon still in its container.

Bart immediately threw the thing to the floor and took a nearby glass, filled it with water, and started clearing out his mouth.

After spitting, Bart noticed that a lot of feminine products were now in his bathroom. A blow dryer, curling iron, crimper, and some weird thing that was a bag attached to a tube, that Bart couldn't identify.

Bart could only guess what this could mean. Alex had moved in with him.

At first, Bart's sense of self-righteousness kicked in and he was wondering why she thought it of herself to invade his space so suddenly. Then, Bart's common sense kicked in and he realized that, to Alex, this was a step needed to be taken.   
After all, if you can't live with your soon-to-be-wife then when can you?

Bart sighed. He knew that proposing to Alex would mean sacrificing some of his bachlorhood, which he knew he must do.

Looking at his bathroom, though, an unwanted thought passed through his head.

_Can I do it, though?_

Bart remembered when Gina had stayed at his place for a week until she was able to get into an apartment. That week, Bart remembered, vividly, was not good. Gina had her clothes all over the place, which to Bart was a constant memory of his mother bitching at him to clean his own room when he was younger. Bart, at this time, in turn, had yelled at Gina to pick up after herself.

Now, two years later, engaged to, what Bart considered to be, the most attractive and cleverest woman, he has ever met. He was faced with a similar ordeal.

Bart walked out of the bathroom and looked at Alex who was shifting as she dreamed.

Bart shook his head.

_I made a choice. I'm engaged to the girl, I've always wanted. I can't be selfish anymore._ He thought.

Bart walked away and then the image of Gina's belongings snapped back into his mind.

_Right? _He asked himself.

* * *

Lisa was watching the phone all day, debating with herself whether or not to make the call to the person who had the highest bid on The Jazz Hole. 

The last time Lisa could remember doing this was when she was eight and she was addicted to The Corey Hotline.

Lisa had been up all night trying to find out what the pros and cons would be to making this call. Lisa had prided herself in the fact that she never gave into temptation so easily, never once.

However, the idea of The Jazz Hole being turned into like a glue factory or some other monstrosity made the soul inside Lisa ache.

Taking a deep breath, Lisa made her decision.

Taking hold of the phone, she dialed the number.

She was tempted, after several rings, to just hang up and try again another day. Then, the message machine picked up.

"_Hi! You've reached the number of Greta Wolfcastle. I'm sorry I'm not here to take your call, but please call my agent at 555-2478 and I'll get back to you at the most convenient time. Thank you."_

Lisa was speechless after hearing the message.

She vaguely remembered the person whom she briefly met when she was younger and a couple of days ago she heard that she was one of the few people who had come to visit Bart.

Lisa had done what the message had asked of her and, to her surprise, she received a message on her cell from Greta.

"_Hi Lisa. Wow, weird coincidence about The Jazz Hole being something we're both after, huh? Well, I'm sorry to tell you that I'm not going to give it for free. This is a little out of my place but I'll only do it for a favor. Please call me back and I'll give you all the details. Ciao!_

* * *

Maggie was pissed off to the max. Mr. Hall had put her into a tight corner. When everyone had left he revealed to her that he knew what her true purpose was to attend these meetings. The mother had contacted him and asked him to let her know if Maggie was going to show today and then give her a progress update on her in the class. Mr. hall took satisfaction knowing that Maggie had to do anything he said or else he was going to report back to her and Maggie knew that only spelled out doom to her job. 

Mr. Hall had her purchase, not only the beginner's package, but the intermediate and advanced one as well.

Maggie felt dirty. Not only was she being forced to buy in to this program, but also the mere fact that Mr. Hall had her where he wanted made Maggie sick.

There was only one way out of this and Maggie knew she'd be lucky if they would be willing to do it.

_**To be continued…**_

_**SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS**_

**A/N:** I know I'm ending this rather prematurely, but I wanted this to end with reader's pondering what each character is going to do with his or her's predicament.

**A/N II**: Can Bart fully adjust to Alex living with him? Can Lisa talk her way into getting The Jazz Hole from Greta Wolfcastle? Can Maggie find the means to get out from under the thumb of Mr. Hall? Find out all this and more on the next exciting chapter of Bart Simpson: Attorney at Law!!!

**_Q-n-P_**


	18. The Old Man with the Golden Gun

Greta was late, which to Lisa wasn't good. It was making her nervous as hell.

She still didn't know why she agreed to this "arrangement". The Jazz Hole meant the world to Lisa and the idea of running it was even more tempting.

However, after dealing with two other femme fatales from Bart's past, Lisa knew what this woman probably wanted.

It was thirty minutes after the hour until Greta arrived, and she treated the whole thing as it was something normal for her.

"Oh, Lisa. There you are." Greta said as she spotted her. She sat down across from Lisa and set her bag down next to her.

"So. You want the chance to own The Jazz Hole, huh?" Greta said, smiling.

Lisa sighed, "Yes I do, and I can only guess what you want in return. Look, I know I want that place badly, but not badly enough to ruin my brother's engagement."

Greta looked surprised. "I sure hope not. Those two are so cute together, it'd be a shame."

This time, it was Lisa's turn to be surprised.

"Wait. This isn't what you wanted?"

Greta laughed, "Lisa, your brother's hot but I'm already seeing somebody and am not at that stage, in my life, to sabotage the relationships of others."

Lisa's face turned red as she looked at the floor. Looking up, she raised an eyebrow.

"So, what is it that you want, then?"

Greta pulled out a torn newspaper article, which featured Mr. Burns holding a jewel-encrusted, solid gold, gun.

This was fifteen years ago at the Hollywood Premiere of my dad's film, "A quarter past dead-er, part two". That gun, which you see the rotten man holding, is the gun the NRA was going to present to my father for his contribution to the Republican Party."

Lisa whistled after looking at the gun. "It's nice. So, where is it now?"

Greta sighed, "Oh, old man rivers still has it. I need you to get it for me."

Lisa's eyes went wide. "How? Surely, you don't expect me to go waltzing up there and ask him politely?"

Greta laughed, "Far from it. Actually…"

She bent her head low and Lisa did likewise.

"**_I want you to steal it, Lisa."_** She whispered.

Lisa felt as if her head would never lift up, due to what she was told, which felt like 100 pounds in her head.

**Chapter Eighteen: The Old Man with the Golden Gun**

A couple of days after Alex had moved in, Bart started noticing more and more changes around the apartment.

Bras and pantyhose's were seen all over the closet space. Dietary foods and drinks were cluttering the kitchen space and forwarded mail was lying all over the kitchen counter top.

To Bart, this was a flash back to when Gina was staying with him and he was determined to ask Alex to try to keep things organized and maybe to go looking for a dresser to keep all her belongings in.

At first, Bart was thinking about hiring a maid to keep everything in order but Alex squashed the idea, saying it wasn't necessary and that she would be able to pick up after herself.

As soon Bart was able to abandon his cane and be able to bend over without wincing in pain, he started picking up all the things around the rooms and put them into a pile on the bed.

Bart decided that he needed to go out and get a dresser while Alex was busy with her staff hiring.

However, Both Milhouse and Samantha thought this was a really bad idea.

"Are you crazy, Bart? You don't do this without telling her!" Milhouse said on one occasion.

"She's not going to like it." Samantha said, at another.

Bart wasn't dissuaded. He knew that the place needed to look better for when he was going to have his partners or clients over for lunches or dinners.

After coming back from the furniture store, Bart assembled the dresser and delicately put everything that was on the bed into the drawers.

Unfortunately, when Alex had come home, the response wasn't what Bart had hoped for.

"What are you trying to tell me? That my things cannot be with yours?" Alex asked after Bart showed her the dresser.

"No, that's not what I'm saying at all. I just thought that this would be a nice gesture. This way you'll have your things in a place where you can easily get at them." Bart said, sitting down on the bed.

Alex put a hand to her face and sighed. "So, I'm guessing you want everything here to be as exactly as it is, right?"

Bart nodded.

"Bart, when we get married, you realize that more of my things will be around. In the more years to come for us I'll be having more things and that little dresser won't be able to hold all of them."

Bart scratched the back of his neck as he was thinking.

"Well," He said, "We can always buy a bigger dresser when that time comes."

Alex groaned as she sat down next to him. "Bart, do you want me living with you?"

Bart laughed, "Of course, I do."

"Then, you should know, that people often share their spaces with people they're going to marry. You've got to make sacrifices."

Alex got up and grabbed her purse. "I'm going to Alison's for awhile. When I come back, let me know what you decided."

* * *

Maggie was surrounded by the other people in the group who were wearing t-shirts with the "Kicking The Butt" slogan on them.

After talking with Nelson, who didn't want anything to do with Mr. Hall since the teacher put a restraining order against Nelson after Nelson set his car on fire when Nelson was in his class. Maggie was left with no choice but to attend the swindler's class.

Mr. Hall arrived shortly and was dressed in an expensive leather jacket and was wearing Gucci sunglasses.

"Welcome again, class. Now, we're going to pick up where we last left off. Mrs. Jones, after using "Kicking The Butt"'s three day method, how do you feel?"

Mrs. Jones, an elderly woman, was shaking and looking in all directions.

"Please…Dear God…Does any one have a smoke I could bum off them?"

Mr. Hall laughed, "Hang in there, sweetheart. Now, Maggie has agreed to help me with today's project. Maggie?"

Maggie cursed underneath her breath.

"Maggie." Mr. Hall said, sternly.

Maggie sighed as she stood up and walked over next to Mr. Hall, in front of the group.

"Now," Mr. Hall continued, "Maggie's addiction is based on self-destructiveness. As per agreement, Maggie hasn't smoked within twelve hours today."

Everyone in the group clapped.

Maggie groaned. Late last night she was had gotten a call from Mr. Hall and he bribed her into not smoking anything or he would call up the kids' parents and tell them she wasn't taking the program seriously and that they should recommend to her boss that they should replace her.

A part of Maggie was actually proud that she was being able to breathe easier. The other part would gladly go on a killing spree if it would allow her the chance to have the filtered, dried drug plant lit and nestled between her lips.

"How do you feel, Maggie?" Mr. Hall asked.

Through clenched teeth Maggie said, harshly, "Great, Mr. Hall. NEVER better."

Mr. Hall nodded and turned back to the group.

"That's right folks. After using the patented "Kicking The Butt" chewing gum, Maggie has not wanted a cigarette all day."

The truth was, was that Maggie had been chewing on black licorice. Maggie felt that the products that this company used tasted too fruity and had only contained a couple milligrams of nicotine in each sample. Maggie chose black licorice because she like the taste and felt that having her mouth occupied with it was good enough.

Mr. Hall then brought out other products and was making his sales pitch, as Maggie was excused to sit back down.

The whole class lasted two hours and when everyone was out in the parking lot, she noticed about more than half of the people from the group brought out hidden cigarettes and lighters that they had stashed away during the meeting.

Mr. Hall had patted down Maggie when she had arrived and so Maggie feverishly went to one of the smokers and was able to score one off of them.

However, looking at the cigarette clutched between her two-trembling fingers, Maggie hesitated.

_This isn't a bad thing, you know. Giving this up. It would be nice to breathe easier and to be able to perform those difficult dance moves, without struggling to breathe afterwards._

Maggie sighed as she lit the cigarette. She then made a promise to herself.

_I'll cut back enough to quit._

Maggie, then, resumed her smoking of the cigarette and started talking with others from the group.

* * *

Lisa had been walking all over town, trying to decided for herself whether or not to do what Greta wanted her to do.

At first she had gone to Nelson since they were having drinks together and he responded exactly the way she thought.

He told her that she should just do it. If the "damn place" meant so much to her then she needed to carry out what was needed.

Lisa sighed. She knew that she was beyond a thief, but Mr. Burns, himself, was a thief, so it was okay, right?

Talking with Bart wasn't an option; neither was her Mom.

Lisa knew whom she needed to talk to.

Walking inside the main gates of the Springfield Power Plant, Lisa calmly walked to her Father's room and knocked on the door.

"Go away, busy." Homer replied. Lisa could also hear grunting inside as if Homer was pushing a desk.

"Not fair! You're using your other hand!" Said another voice inside.

Milhouse.

Lisa opened the door to see Homer and Milhouse arm-wrestling and Homer grabbing ahold of the side of the desk with his arm as he was attempting to win the match.

Milhouse had the upper hand, though. His biceps showed it as he made one single adjustment and brought Homer's arm down to the desktop.

"What do ya say, Mr. Simpson? Five out of five?"

"Uh, oh." Homer said as he realized Lisa was there. He then looked back at Milhouse, stood up and pointed a finger back to the door.

"Get back to work, Mr. Van Houten! I have no time for your childish games."

"But you called ME here, Mr. Simpson." Milhouse protested.

"That's okay, Dad. Actually it'd be better if I could talk to the both of you." Lisa said as she shut the door and sat down in the chair next to Milhouse.

"I have a problem.

After telling Homer and Milhouse her predicament, Lisa waited of either one of them to speak.

Homer was the first. "Uh, Lisa, honey, have you told your mother about this?"

Lisa shook her head.

Homer then grabbed out a sheet of paper and drew a crude drawing of Mr. Burns' mansion.

"Okay, here's the plan. Milhouse, you break the lock to the gate, while I walk very calmly to the door as an eccentric billionaire and engage Mr. Burns in a conversation. Then, Lisa, you and Milhouse sneak past us go to a window and get inside. Hopefully, we'll be in and out in an hour or two."

Lisa looked at her father in surprise, "Wow, Dad, that was very impressive. Where did you come up with that so fast?"

Homer laid back and smiled, "It was on Hogan's Heroes, last night."

Lisa groaned. Anything that her father watched, that he thought was brilliant, would no doubt be bad. Lisa remembered that one time where…

"Hey, I think this would work better!" Said Milhouse, interrupting Lisa's thoughts.

Lisa looked over to what Milhouse had drew.

Looking very much like a football player's handbook, Milhouse had drawn arrows, each one what pointed at spots around the mansion. There were letters that accompanied the arrows; L, M, S, and H.

Lisa recognizes the significance of most of the letters, but the "S" had her confused.

"Milhouse, who is the "S" suppose to be?"

Milhouse blushed, "Samantha."

Lisa shook her head. "No. Don't ask her. I'm already feeling bad about doing this, I don't want to feel worse by having her go along with us on this."

"Oh, c'mon, Lisa. You know she won't let me help you out, unless she's involved in some way. Besides, she wouldn't do much. She'd be our getaway driver that's all. I agree, I'd rather she were out of this, but she won't give me that choice."

Lisa sighed. She knew Samantha was stubborn but this was insane.

"Alright. But we need to come up with a signal to abort if something doesn't smell right, right?"

Both Homer and Milhouse nodded.

* * *

Bart had found that when he called Milhouse, for the first time, he wasn't answering. That and Samantha wasn't there, either.

Bart needed to talk with someone, anyone, who he could talk to help him understand more about living with another person.

With no one else around, Bart decided to talk to his mother.

Marge was excited about her son taking such a huge step and sat down and told him what she remembered when she first moved in with Homer.

"When your father and I first moved in together it was a big change for both of us."

Bart, who was drinking coffee with Marge, nodded as he listened.

"One of the biggest challenges for us was that I wanted Homer to get rid of his collection of Magnum P.I. action figures that he had all over the place. The sacrifices I had to make was that I needed to get rid of all the extra clothes that I had since High School, since your father didn't have much space. Anyways, it took three weeks before the two of us fully adjusted to living with each other."

Bart looked away, "Uh, Mom. I hate to tell you this, but Dad still has those action figures. They're in the attic."

Marge didn't say anything, at first. She then smiled and held Bart's hand.

"Bart, you and Alex are going to be fine. It'll be hard at first, but I know you can do it."

Marge then got up and picked up a garbage sack and walked out of the kitchen. Bart could hear her walking up to the attic.

Bart looked at his coffee, thinking.

_She's right. It'll be hard but I can do this. Alex is the best thing that's ever happened to me._ _After all, if Mom can make it work with a person like Dad, then surely I can make it with Alex._

* * *

Mr. Hall was having people in the group pair up. The assignment was to spend time with the other and help each other in both reassurance and confidence with quitting. All were scheduled to call Mr. Hall and make reports about the other's progress on quitting.

Maggie was paired up with Mrs. Jones and from the start it wasn't easy. For the first couple of days, Maggie couldn't get hold of Mrs. Jones and when Maggie went to her house, she often found her in the backyard smoking.

Maggie's decision to cut down on the amount of cigarettes she smoked in a day was going surprisingly well. There were only a few times that she slipped and she had to start all over again, but she was doing better than she had in awhile.

Of course, she was never going to let Mr. Hall in on any of this. For all that man knew; she was still being the guinea pig for the lame-ass products he was selling.

Others from the class, Maggie had noticed, were either a pass or fail. Whenever the class had ended, Maggie saw the same group outside smoking, including Mrs. Jones.

Maggie felt sorry for her. Being a widow of sixty-four, Mrs. Jones didn't really have anyone else in life. No children, no animals, nothing except Laramie cigarettes. Maggie often wondered why she was attending this class at all.

"Guilt, I guess." Mrs. Jones told Maggie while the two of them were outside smoking, class having ended for the day.

"Is it self-conscience guilt? Tired of people giving you those "looks"?" Maggie asked.

Mrs. Jones shrugged, "Don't really know what "it" is. All I know is that something inside me told me that I should go to one of these here meetings." She then started hacking and Maggie held her cigarette for her while she did.

* * *

Lisa, sitting in the back of Milhouse's Sedan with Homer while Milhouse and Samantha were in the front, was dreading tonight's work.

Several scenarios played in her head on how tonight would go all of which Lisa was certain they would be caught.

Why was she doing this? Was The Jazz Hole really worth it?

I her heart Lisa knew it was. Besides, She had already done other illegal things. Corrupted an aired broadcast, broke into a museum, helped the same awful man she was going to rob tonight, create a paste used from sea creatures, and she stole all the teachers' teaching guide books. From the look of things, Lisa knew that she wasn't the purist of people.

That didn't mean she wasn't without guilt on those separate occasions.

The four of them were parked outside of Burns' mansion and the first phase of the operation was soon to be underway.

Milhouse got out of the car with a metal bolt cutter and proceeded to the gate. Cutting through five of the bars on both top and bottom, he then carefully rested them on the ground and then motioned the others to him.

Lisa took a deep breath before getting out of the car.

_It's going to be fine. _She told herself.

Homer, who went to great lengths as to put on one of Marge's black stalkings over his head, tip-toed over and almost fumbled over through the hole.

As soon as Lisa was over, the three then proceeded to the mansion and walked closely to the building as they made their way to the Far East corner of the house.

A pie was cooling on the widow sill; why this late at night, Lisa had no idea.

Homer peered hungrily at it but then squatted down quickly as he whispered, "Smithers!"

Lisa and Milhouse copied Homer's actions and all three remained motionless as they heard Mr. Smithers approach the windowsill.

"Well, Wayland, this time Monty will surely let you rub his back, this time, after he's tasted your lovely raspberry goose-liver pie." Mr. Smithers said as he removed the pie from the sill.

Homer was making gagging sounds and both Lisa and Milhouse and to shush him.

When Smithers had disappeared, the three then made their way up, over, and into the mansion.

Once inside the kitchen, Lisa turned to the others.

"Well, what now? Where do you think Mr. Burns would keep that gun?"

The other two thought for a moment and to Lisa's surprise it was Homer who had the answer.

"He might have it in that fancy museum of his. That's where he had the trillion-dollar bill. No, wait. It was in his wallet." Homer corrected himself.

Lisa remembered how the family was cornered by the FBI when Homer, Smithers, and Mr. Burns had ran away with the notorious currency and had fled to Cuba. When he returned it only took an hour of plea bargaining, by Mr. Burns, before he could come back home.

"Well, it's still worth looking into." Lisa said.

The others agreed. The problem was that Homer couldn't quite remember where the museum part of the house was.

"We'd better split up. Do you all have your walkie-talkies?" Lisa asked. Both Milhouse and Homer nodded as they brought out their Krusty the Clown walkie-talkies, which were Bart's that he had left at the house.

Going through the long corridors, Lisa was still ill when she saw all the things Mr. Burns had purchased over the years. It wasn't bad enough that the man used his money so carelessly, but to buy such things like actual Hindenburg and have it on a plaque like some animal trophy, was insane.

Then again, Lisa had never once been impressed by the sort of person Mr. Burns was.

Making a sharp left, around a corner, Lisa soo found herself in a huge, open area. There was a gigantic banner that said, "The Hall of Patriots."

She knew she was in the place Homer had described.

Going past the mannequins that all bared an eerie resemblance to Mr. Burns, she then found what she was looking for.

In a diorama of the death of John Wilkes Boothe, Lisa found another Mr. Burns-like figure poised with a gun that was aimed down at a staggering Boothe.

She could only guess that the figurine was Lisa found another Mr. Burns-like figure poised with a gun that was aimed down at a staggering Boothe.

She could only guess that the figurine was supposed to be an ancestor of Mr. Burns, but that wasn't what she had her mind on. The gun in the hand was THE golden gun.

Remembering what Homer had said about the trillion-dollar bill, Lisa got out her test kit to see if the gun was in fact golden.

After a few minutes, Lisa had determined it to be genuine.

Lisa grabbed her walkie-talkie.

"Dad, Milhouse, I've got it. I'll meet you two at the window, over."

"Roger." Said Milhouse.

"Please hurry. The old man-stink is making me woozy." Said Homer.

Lisa set down the walkie-talkie as she grabbed hold of the gun and tugged at it.

At first it wouldn't budge, but adding more to the effort did it finally come free. As soon as it did, an alarm started blaring.

The head of the figure made a cranking sound as it turned to where Lisa was at. The plaster eyes, then, opened up and the pupils revealed camera lenses and they whirred into focus on Lisa.

Back in his room, Mr. Burns, who was watching his TV monitors called into an intercom.

"Smithers, release the hounds."

Those words had echoed throughout the entire mansion, and Lisa knew it was time to make like the wind.

As she ran through hallway after hallway, she could hear the approaching dogs that were after her.

Lisa almost fell as she approached the kitchen. Getting back to her feet, she saw that Homer and Milhouse were waiting for her outside the window.

Lisa made a dive for it.

Catching her, Milhouse carried her as the three made there way back to the gate.

The dogs were out of the mansion and closing in on them.

Samantha had the car started and as soon as the three were out of the gate and into the car, she peeled out of there.

* * *

Alex came back the following morning feeling better. After talking with Alison, she knew that she and Bart should have a discussion about maybe them not living together until they tie the knot. After all, this might've been a little pushy on Alex's side, and it was rushing things.

Coming inside to the apartment, however, Alex was surprised.

There were pictures on the wall of both Alex and Bart at the High School reunion, some of them when the two were in high school, and some times when they were at the Simpson's house, in the early years.

Alex held a hand to her mouth as happy tears came to her face.

Being preoccupied with looking at one of the framed photos, she didn't hear Bart coming out of the bathroom.

"Welcome home." He said.

Alex walked hurriedly over to him and hugged him.

"Thank you, Bart." She said and then kissed him.

Bart grinned, "The dresser's gone and your things are now in with my things."

Alex shook her head in amazement. "What happened to you while I was away?"

Bart shrugged.

The two were soon sitting together on the couch; Alex having her head nestled on Bart's lap.

"Hey, can you turn on the set. They're going to show a promo on my store opening soon." Alex said.

Bart grabbed the remote and turned on the TV.

The news was on and on it was Kent Brockman.

"**Good morning Springfield, this is Kent Brockman. Today's shocking news is that there's a manhunt in order. Wealth tycoon C. Montgomery Burns has issued a one million dollar reward for the capture of three suspects who robbed him at his home. If you know the whereabouts of these people, call the police immediately."**

Both Bart and Alex stood up and starred at the screen. On it were pictures of Lisa, Milhouse, and Samantha.

"Bart…is this true?" Alex asked.

Bart didn't answer as he dialed on the phone.

"Hello, Mom? Are you watching the news?" Bart asked.

As Bart was talking to Marge, Alex continued watching.

"**The suspects were seen inside the Mr. Burns' mansion along with a mysterious person yet to be identified." **Said Kent. The screen then turned to images of Lisa holding a golden gun, looking up at the camera and then running. Milhouse was shown next sprinting through the hallway, only to stop and use his inhaler before turning around and shrieking as two Dobermans chased him further down the hall. Samantha was behind the wheel and as the others got in a loud "D'oh!" could be heard as the leg of the other man got accidentally shut on by the door of the car.

Bart had soon hung up the phone and he sighed heavily.

Turning off the set, Alex turned to Bart.

"What did your mom say?"

"Lisa, Milhouse, and Samantha are on the run. Dad has them staying with my grandma, who's also on the run. Ay Carumba, what a mess." Bart said, rubbing his eyes.

"Why did they do this?" Alex asked.

Bart shrugged, "I don't know. Mom says Dad's being pretty quiet about it. I guess, maybe, we'll find out tonight."

* * *

Maggie felt pretty good about herself. Since she ran out on her last pack, she decided to drink a lot of water and not buy anymore. That was two days ago. Now, she hasn't smoked since. That and her graduation from the dance academy was coming up soon.

The only down side, she could think of, was that she had to still take this damn "Kicking The Butt" class. The only way out of it would be to tell Mr. Hall that she had successfully quitted smoking by using the products. No way in hell was she ever going to do that.

Thus, the classes were still boring and it was a struggle afterwards when they were released and she had to go to her bike to get away from the temptation that these people gave.

The positive side of her still doing these classes was that her visits with Mrs. Jones, who's the only person from the group that Maggie had confided into the knowledge that she had already quit, were uplifting.

Maggie liked her the more she spent time with her. That was the hard part. Seeing the poor woman still smoke and hack her brains out was heart breaking.

Several times Maggie had tried to have her stay inside and chat with her more than go outside to smoke. Unfortunately, Mrs. Jones was stubborn and she won more than Maggie in this battle.

Then the worst came. Later the next day, Maggie had gotten a call from another person from the group that Mrs. Jones had died from heart failure.

Maggie soon found out to both regret and gladness that the cause of her fatality was due to using the products that Mr. Hall was selling.

When talked to by police, Mr. Hall fully admitted that he knew of the side effects that the products produced but was reluctant upon telling his class because the company made him sweet deals. He was then arrested.

During Rebecca Jones' memorial service, Maggie was surprised that the only other person to have ever known Mrs. Jones was Jasper Barnsworth.

"She was a lovely gal, when she was younger." He said smiling.

The day only proved to be worse as Maggie got word from Bart about Lisa.

Coming home, Maggie found Marge crying with Homer comforting her, Bart and Alex by a phone and Bart talking on it.

Maggie walked over and sat in a chair opposite her mother's and she patted her hand.

After Bart had finished his conversation on the phone both he and Alex joined up with the rest and all sat down at the table.

Every single story that had been told to Maggie when she grew older with each year, was, in turn, met with amazement. Maggie couldn't believe how strong her family was. In most families fretted with the things that had happened in her's, most would have probably broken apart or dissolve.

But not her's. The Simpson's have managed to overcome any dilemma that came at them.

Maggie was proud to be part of such a family.

Bart explained to Marge, who's eyes were red, that he would do all in his power to see that Lisa and their friends were brought home soon.

* * *

It was a hot March day as people sat along the rows of others to watch as the Springfield Academy of Dance and the Arts was having its graduation day.

Maggie watched her parents through the maze of mortarboards and smiled. Sitting next to them were Bart and Alex.

Bart gave his sister a wink and Alex nodded to her. Maggie couldn't be happier.

After all, today wasn't just her graduation. It was a turning point. Mr. Hall was in jail, the YMCA center offered her a teaching job in dance, if she wanted it, and Maggie has not smoked in over four weeks.

Maggie drew in a breath full of air and smiled at that thought.

However, looking at her family, Maggie was a saddened, a little, by knowing that Lisa couldn't attend, going into hiding with Milhouse and Samantha wouldn't allow her to be here.

She still smiled. One of the things Maggie felt proud of being a Simpson was that she had Lisa for a sister. The one person in their family who never went with whatever they were told and always spoke her mind.

"Margaret Simpson." Announced the Dean of the Academy.

Maggie, as she got up, she heard both Homer and Bart make loud "whooping" noises and were clapping fiercely. Maggie then saw her mother, who was both holding back tears and clapping, just as well.

Maggie smiled as she shook the hand of the Dean and then went and took her diploma.

In the beginning, it had been quite a struggle for her to have her mother accept her new life, and Maggie was even happier that she was here to see her on this day.

_**To be continued…**_

_**SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS**_

**A/N:** Two more chapters to go people! Sorry to say, but this does have to end at some point. Just so some of you know, this is my third day of being cigarette-free! I thought my effort to try and quit would be a nice key plot point for Maggie.

**A/N II:** Lisa on the lam! Maggie Mr. Hall-free! Bart and Alex finally at a good point! But don't rest easy yet, dear reader! Mr. Burns isn't going to be kind and the suspense will be **_Excellent! _**Find out on the next exciting chapter of Bart Simpson: Attorney at Law!!!

_**Q-n-P**_


	19. Burnsing Down The House!

Bart Simpson paced inside his old bedroom as he tried to think of a way to bring back not only his sister but his friends and grandmother as well.

The last couple of days hadn't been kind to the Simpsons. Mr. Burns was on a warpath and was planning on suing the entire family, calling them a "clan of trespassers." The media was also having their row as they ambushed Bart and Alex on one of their quiet night's out, Maggie told Bart how they interrupted her teaching with shouts of questions, and Marge and Homer were now too timid to leave the house.

Bart sighed; nothing has changed since that trial.

Homer had given Bart the number of the disposable cell phone that Grandma Simpson had, if he ever needed to talk with them. Bart had called and told them that he was planning on bringing back Grandma as well as Lisa, Milhouse, and Samantha.

They were supportive, but Bart knew that he was David attacking Goliath.

Mr. Burns, without a doubt in Bart's mind, would be using his vast riches to hire not only the best lawyers money could buy, but he would make sure to fill in any pockets to win.

Bart suddenly found himself laughing. He remembered when he was fretted with this same ordeal when prosecuting against Jessica.

"Bart? Your mom has dinner ready." Said Alex outside of the door.

"I'll be down in a sec'." Bart replied as rubbed his tired eyes.

This was going to be interesting, to say the least. Bart knew he had to win, though. Those people were highlights in his life. He had to win.

**Chapter Nineteen: Burnsing down the house**

During the next couple of days, Mr. Burns had made a lot of public hoopla about Lisa, Milhouse, and Samantha, but of the Simpson family in general. His televised ads ran showcasing his quote un-quote dilemmas caused by various members of the family. First off was Bart whom he stated as the "ungrateful little shyster" whom he pampered when he was trying to make him as his heir and the greedy little upstart who tried to philander him of his money when he accidentally ran him over with his car. He then demonstrated about Maggie who had shot him when she was an infant and then vandalized his home when she was seven. Marge was given the rough treatment as well. Mr. Burns brought out the notion that she was a craven temptress that had both painted him as a withered monster and had seduced him into hiring her at the plant for a brief period of time. But Lisa, she was the one who got the worse treatment of all. Mr. Burns categorized her efforts to shut down the plant, when it was in his care, and the other hasslings that she did to him as she had gotten older. He also mentioned the sour business deal of theirs when Mr. Burns had become bankrupted and how she helped him gain the plant back by going through the recycling business. Homer wasn't mentioned at all, a fact that he celebrated around the house, much to the annoyance of the family.

Alex knew Bart had his work cut out for him this time. She worried on how this was going to affect his health. He was spending nights staying up and going over cases filled against Mr. Burns, in witch the other side won. He then went on to his grandmother's case and spent long afternoons calling the still living people who were there on the night of her pro-activism.

There were times when Alex couldn't bear to watch Bart do this to himself and she pleaded with him to take a break and do it again the next day. Much to her disappointment, he argued about how he needed to put everything in himself to see this one out.

"My case against Jessica was a pin-prick compared to this. I'm sorry, babe, but I really need to focus on this." Was his reply the last time she begged him to stop and for the two to spend a nice quite evening together.

Alex sighed, as much as she was proud of Bart doing everything in his power to bring his friends and family home, she wasn't happy on what this was doing to the both of them.

Maggie generously offered to spend time with Alex while Bart was pouring away at this. The two went to the movies and then spent dinner at the Simpson's house.

After dinner, sitting in the living room drinking wine, Homer was boring Maggie with his latest topic on how the whole family will be famous after squashing the old man. Alex was with Marge who was asking about the wedding.

"Where do you think you and Bart will have it?" She asked.

"I was hoping to have it near Springfield Gorge. In the late evening would be nice. The way the setting sun's light hits the rocky walls creates such a vibrant color that I believe is so romantic to have a wedding by." Alex said, starring off dreamily.

Marge smiled, "That sounds wonderful. What about your honeymoon?"

Alex laughed, "Well, I know Bart might be against it, but I was thinking having my honeymoon here."

Marge was surprised, "Wow. That's new. Why here?"

Alex shrugged, "I don't know. I guess I think I like the idea of being around a place I'm comfortable with. Besides, there are romantic places in Springfield."

Marge nodded. "Why is Bart against it?" She asked.

"Oh, he wants it to be special and glamorous. He wants to take me to Egypt or Paris."

Marge sighed, "I can see why you're against it." She then got up and walked to the kitchen.

Maggie quickly took her place as she left Homer dragging on about how people should refer to him as "King Homer" after the trial.

"So, what were you two talking about?" Maggie asked.

"Just the wedding. By the way, since my store's on hiatus and Bart's so busy with this case, do you want to help me go look for a dress to help celebrate  
Bart winning this case?"

Maggie beamed, "Are you kidding? Of course! What are you looking for? Classy or down right sexy?"

Alex thought for a moment and then grinned, "Maybe a little of both."

* * *

After getting off the phone with Bart, Lisa handed the phone over to Milhouse.

The four of them were crouched in a van outside of the Bronco's Stadium in Boise, Idaho. They've been crossing the better part of half the country before stopping here.

Much to Milhouse's delight, since he was a big college football fan.

Bart had told Lisa on his plan on bringing not only the three of them home but to bring back Grandma Simpson as well.

Lisa smiled, she knew Bart had high hopes and was putting all his efforts into this.

The four had spent the afternoon in the town of Boise, touring the various art galleries and visiting the Lewis and Clark museum and then more into downtown to a place called "The Big Easy" watching a concert performed by Dido.

Lisa found this relaxing but she was still eager to get back home. She knew Bart and Alex's wedding was drawing near and she was worried about how her parent's were doing. Lisa still had with her the golden gun that she was suppose to give to Greta Wolfcastle.

Looking at the thing made her uneasy. She was now paying the price she was reluctant to pay in the beginning.

Lisa had tried to call Greta and have her come and pick it up, but everytime she called Greta was either out of town or couldn't be bothered.

This made Lisa mad. After all her efforts to try and secure her dream of owning the Jazz Hole, she ended up here. On the run and Greta was nowhere to be found.

Walking down along the Boise River to the public library, Lisa hoped that all of this would end soon and she could come home.

* * *

Mr. Burns was sitting in his bed, smiling with delight as his latest televised slander against the Simpson family came on the air.

Mr. Smithers was watching him, feeling down. Usually when it came to his own opinions, Wayland Smithers rarely spoke his ground. He found it easier to just sit idly by and let Monty have his way rather then complicate their relationship by voicing his own thoughts. Besides, the last time he did, he got fired.

He didn't blame the girl for stealing something that was already stolen.

Nor did he feel bad that Monty was making this smear campaign against the Simpson family. To Wayland, it was just easier to be neutral.

"Smithers!" Mr. Burns called out.

"Yes, Monty?" Smithers said as he came in the room.

"What other dirt can we hash up on them?" He asked turning of the set.

Mr. Smithers gulped and then decided it would be best just to go along and not endure what he knew would come.

"I'll look into Homer Simpson's old file and see what I can come up with, Sir."

"Excellent." Mr. Burns said, evilly. He then whooped with joy as "Masterpiece Theatre" came on.

* * *

Just as Bart had expected, the notice came from Mr. Burns' lawyer, Robert Gweeble arrived to Bart.

Bart knew this was it. The trial was going to happen.

He knew he had to get the four back to Springfield and begin preparation for this.

There was someone else he needed to get, but that was going to be hard.

Grabbing his phone he dialed.

It took awhile before anyone answered.

"Hello, Wolfcastle public relations, this is Margaret, how may I direct your call?"

Bart sat up straight in his chair as he took the phone to his other ear.

"Yes, hi, can I speak with Miss Greta Wolf Castle, please."

"I'm sorry, sir, but Ms. Wolfcastle is on location, at the moment. If you'll hold I'll put you through to her voice mail."

Bart hung up, not wanting to deal with some machine that Greta probably never bothered to check, anyways.

Rubbing his eyes, it dawned on to him whom he could also call.

There was a problem, though.

Bart decided to risk it. Picking the phone up again, he brought out his phone book and looked up The Springfield Mental Health Institution.

Bart knew the risks of using him. Gweeble would try his best to discredit him. But Bart knew that if he could find out if the man was stable enough to stand trial, then things will go smoother.

"Hello? Springfield MHI, this is Rebecca, who are you wishing to contact?" Said the receptionist.

"Hi, this is Bart Simpson, Attorney at law, I was wondering if I could speak with Rainer Wolfcastle, or maybe his physician?"

"Hold on." The receptionist said. Bart soon found himself hearing crappy, easy-listening, elevator music.

It wasn't until five minutes later till he got through to Mr. Wolfcastle's doctor.

"Hello? Mr. Simpson?"

Bart leaned forward. "Yes. Who am I speaking to?"

"I'm Dr. Hans, Mr. Wolfcastle's doctor."

"Yes, Mr. Hans, I was wondering if it might be possible for Mr. Wolfcastle to be a witness for a trail I'm engaged in."

There was a pause on the line.

Bart, nervously, tugged at his tie. "Dr. Hans?"

"I'm still here. To answer your question, I'd like to ask some questions myself."

"Ok," Bart said, "Shoot."

"First of all, is this in anyway to associate Mr. Wolfcastle with any known criminal?"

Bart shook his head, "No, it isn't."

"Second, if I tell you that Mr. Wolfcastle couldn't be brought back for a second hearing, would you accept this?"

Bart swallowed, "Yes."

"Finally, have you asked for Ms. Greta Wolfcastle's permission? I can't let Mr. Wolfcastle do this without her permission."

Bart knew that this might be asked. He decided to go ahead and lie.

"Yeah, yeah she did."

"Alright then. Come by at any time to prepare him. I'll let the staff know you'll be coming. I hope your case goes well, Mr. Simpson."

"Thank you, Mr. Hans."

Both then hung up.

Rainer Wolfcastle had admitted himself to the Springfield MHI seven years ago, as a result of a complete nervous breakdown.

While shopping with his wife, Maria, he heard a car back firing and immediately went into one of his many action personas. Grabbing a nearby school girl, flinging her to the ground and yelling, "Get down, we're all in danger!" He then went as far as to grab a twig, climb a tree and started going off into a rant, promising to blow off anyone's head who tried to rob him of the government's secret plans.

He's been at this facility for all this time. His only visitor was his daughter, seeing as how his mental dip lead to his divorce.

Bart had always been a fan of his since he was younger and when he met the poor guy, who had a four o' clock shadow, wearing a gown and sitting in a wheelchair, Bart still was star-struck.

Rainer looked at him with apprehension.

"Mr. Wolfcastle, I'm Bart Simpson. You may not remember but, when I was younger I was good friends with your daughter and visited your place regularly."

Rainer looked perplexed.

Doctor Hans had instructed Bart on how to approach Rainer. Making no sudden movements for they might trigger another episode.

Bart sat down in a chair in the courtyard where they were. The huge spacious environment was made up of various plants and ivies that made the place seem more like a garden rather than a socializing area for the patients.

Bart slowly went into his briefcase, noticing that Rainer's eyes were watching his every movement. Bart took out a manila folder that had the picture of the golden gun.

"Mr. Wolfcastle, this is what I wanted to show you. It's the gun my sister and her friends stole that I was told belonged to you."

Bart slid the picture across the table to Rainer.

Rainer looked down at it and his eyes lit up.

"Das da gun. Da gun that da old man stole from me." He said taking the picture in his hand.

"How did it happen?" Bart asked.

"During luggage claim. I accidentally grabbed his and he grabbed mien. When I went to get it back he had lawyers. I never stood a chance." Rainer looked at the photo, sadly.

Bart decided to change the topic. "Mr. Wolfcastle. My sister Lisa still has your gun. By winning this case, I'll make sure that you get it back. I know how much it means to you. If I were to call you as a witness, would you be willing?"

Mr. Wolfcastle looked off the side. He didn't say anything else for a moment then he turned his head back to Bart and nodded.

Bart smiled and nodded in return.

* * *

Lisa had hung up the phone after talking to both Marge and Maggie, feeling a little better.

Marge told her whom Bart was bringing in as witnesses and it made Lisa feel better. Though she still had her lingering fear on who Mr. Burns was going to use for his side of the case.

Lisa told the others what Bart was planning and got mixed results.

Milhouse, like her, was eager to get back home, while Samantha and Grandma Simpson felt that their chances were grim and that they were better on the run.

"At least this way our baby will be born free." Samantha said, rubbing her stomach.

"But Sammy, baby, don't you feel that Bart would d anything to make sure we're free? After all, you and I had our doubts when he was pitted against Jessica and looked how that turned out." Milhouse said, which surprised Lisa.

"Milhouse, this is different, we're involved, Bart isn't. We can't risk getting put into jail, they'd separate our baby from us, I won't risk that. I…uh, oh."

Milhouse leaned next to her.

"What?" He asked.

Samantha blushed.

"My water broke."

Milhouse looked down and quickly moved back.

"Eww! Shouldn't we get to a hospital?" He asked Lisa.

Lisa shook her head; "We're fugitives on the run. People ask questions at hospitals and cops are usually there."

Grandma Simpson walked forward and put her hand on Lisa's shoulder.

"I think I can help, dears. I've been on the run for almost half of my life. Being a mid-wife is second nature for me."

Lisa smiled, "What can Milhouse and I do?"

"We'll need some clean rags, water, and warm blanket." She then looked down at Samantha; "Do you drink, dear?"

Samantha shook her head, "Not since I got pregnant, no."

Grandma Simpson smiled, "Well, will get you a bottle, it'll help the pain. Don't worry, the baby won't receive any of it."

Both Lisa and Milhouse hurried as Grandma Simpson helped Samantha with her breathing.

* * *

Greta Wolfcastle stormed into Bart's office the next day, slamming the door once she was in.

"What gives you the right to corner my dad like that! He's been through so much and his health is improving!" Greta fumed, leaning over Bart's desk.

Bart took a deep breath before speaking.

"You never returned my phone calls. I'm sorry, but I need his testimony to help out Lisa and the others. You know, the ones you sent on that little "scavenger hunt" of yours."

Greta folded her arms, "Listen, it was Lisa's choice to go and do that, I didn't make her."

Bart returned the look, "You made it so she didn't have any other choice. My sister has her heart set on that stupid place and, as far as I can tell, she has nothing in else in her life to go for. I think you're a little naïve to think she wouldn't go for it."

Greta sighed as she sat down in the chair, "Be that as it may, you still didn't have to hound my father."

"You left me with no options left. My case is set on that gun being stolen before Lisa and the others took it. But, if it makes you happy, I could put the spotlight on you and say you were the one who orchestrated this whole thing and have Lisa and the others testify against you." Bart said, leaning back and giving a cocky smile.

"Wipe that smile off your face. You know damn well that I would never allow you to do that."

"Then what?" Bart asked.

Greta sighed, "Unfortunately, I'm busy so you can't call me as a witness, so, I guess I'll let you use my dad."

Bart nodded, "Thank you, Greta."

Greta shrugged, "I wish it were some other way."

Both stood up as Greta retrieved her purse.

"Greta, if you don't mind me asking, why did you want to buy the Jazz Hole? I don't remember you caring for the music that much."

Greta sighed, "My dad used to be this country's favorite action star. Now, a lot of people are only remembering him for his "freak-out" at that mall. The Jazz Hole was a perfect place to make as a sort of "McBain" museum. Did you know when he first came to America, that the corner of the Jazz Hole was where he shot his first movie?"

Bart shook his head.

"Well, a lot of people probably didn't know, either. Back then, the Jazz hole used to be a VD clinic. Anyways, thank you for seeing me, Mr. Simpson."

* * *

"C'mon Samantha, push! Push!" Said Lisa cheering her on.

"Milhouse, the baby's crowning, do you want to see the head of your baby?" Asked Grandma Simpson.

"Yeah!" Said Milhouse, enthusiastically. He came around next to Lisa and he then started to turn green.

"Gross!" Milhouse then went out of the van and vomited noisily.

Lisa took Milhouse's place next to Samantha holding her hand.

"One more push, girl. And…Your baby's here! It's a girl, congratulations!" Said Grandma Simpson.

Lisa dabbed at Samantha's forehead with the rag and then handed her the bottle of tequila.

"Where's Milhouse?" she asked.

Milhouse, then, returned ad sat next to his wife.

"You did it, baby."

She kissed his hand, "No, we did it. All of us. Thank you guys so much."

Grandma Simpson handed over the bundled baby to the new parents who hushed the tiny little thing as it began to cry.

"What are you going to name it?" Lisa asked.

"Brianna." Samantha said. "After my mother."

Milhouse chuckled, "She grabbing my thumb, this is soo weird."

The next day, Lisa managed to convince Samantha and Grandma Simpson to come back to Springfield and she quickly called Bart.

She was happy to hear that Bart managed to have them stay at the Simpson's house until he was legally obligated to tell Mr. Burns that they were back and then they'd have to stay in a holding cell till the trial.

When they came back to home, Marge was ecstatic to have a baby in the house again.

"I tell ya, there were times with Maggie that I thought she was going to be an infant forever, then she got older."

Homer was happy he had another father to chat with and also go to Moe's with.

This is where Bart had to put his foot out.

"Sorry, home-boy, but these guys have to be under the radar until I got things in order for the trial. So no phone calls to people you know will blather and second of all, no going outside of the house without using my "Lil' bastard disguise kit"." Bart then left to go back to the office.

Marge nodded, "It actually works. When he was twelve I could have sworn I had Mugsey Bouggs living in my house."

Bart went back to his apartment several hours later and found Alex sleeping in their bed.

Deciding not to rouse her, Bart went into the kitchen for a soda and came back to the living room and turned on the set to a "movie of the day" on the local channel.

Lying back, Bart felt good. This was turning out better than he had thought. The other two witnesses he secured would, undoubtedly, help this case. That and he had his sister back.

The movie was interrupted.

_Ernest goes to Euro Disney will be back after this special news break._

"_**This is Kent Brockman with a special news report! The guilty party of the Burns mansion robbery have been arrested!"**_

Bart immediately stood up. "What!"

"_**Thirty minutes ago, this reporter had spotted Milhouse Van Houten and a Homer Simpson down at Moe's Tavern, drinking and celebrating."**_

"D'oh!" Bart yelled as he rubbed his hands with his face.

"_**Later, Police were able to find the other guilty party, Lisa Simpson, Samantha Van Houten and a surprising other wanted felon residing at the Simpson's household. Mrs. Mona Simpson, an escaped fugitive, was holding the hiding trio in her son's home. These people have been arrested and are now awaiting trial."**_

Bart looked at his answering machine and, just as he had suspected, there were several missed calls, probably from Marge, telling him that Homer messed things up by sneaking Milhouse to Moe's.

* * *

Sitting in a café with Maggie, Alex looked out the window, thinking.

"What's on your mind?" Asked Maggie.

"Your brother, this case, the people involved, everything that's happened since I got off the bus and came back to Springfield. I'm wondering, will anything normal happen after this trial?"

Maggie laughed, "You're forgetting what town you're talking about. This is Springfield. Normal and it don't go very well together."

Alex smiled, "I guess you're right. How's teaching going?"

"Okay, except one of my students won't stop hitting on me and I'm trying to decide if I should get him kicked out of the class or not. I've already let him down easy but he doesn't seem to take no for an answer."

"Have you tried ignoring him?" Asked Alex.

Maggie nodded, "I have. The problem is, is that he's so persistent yet he's smart about doing it. It only happens at the end of class and he never does it to me outside."

"If you don't mind me asking, what's wrong about him?"

Maggie sighed, "He smokes."

Alex was surprised. "Really?"

Maggie nodded, "Just the smell of him when he's around is driving me nuts."

"Would you go out with him if he didn't? I mean, is this the only thing that's holding you back?"

Maggie thought for a moment, "You know what, it is. He's actually very cute and has a successful job as a mechanic."

Alex smiled, "Well, then, maybe you could help him quit. Go out on a first date with him and if all goes well tell him you'd like to continue seeing him if he'd agree to try and quit smoking."

Maggie smiled, "Thanks Alex. By the way, I don't think you'll have to worry about Bart. Knowing his track record, he should come fully prepared for this. He'll be fine."

* * *

Bart was worried sick. His first witness, Doug Harper, was out of town for a National Rifle Association's bake off and wouldn't be back for a couple of weeks.

That meant only one thing. He would have to put one of his defendants on the stand.

Bart knew that it would have to be either Lisa or Samantha, knowing fully well that Milhouse would crack under any kind of pressures that Gweeble would put on.

Bart decided Samantha would be his best bet, seeing as how Lisa had way too many ties to Mr. Burns and that Gweeble would use everything he had against her.

The opening statements would begin tomorrow and Bart felt he needed to spend some time with Alex to get his mind off of it.

First, he took the two of them dancing. But it was cut short as Barney getting drunk and vomiting into the band's pit interrupted the Band.

Second, they went to dinner at the Singing Sirloin.

They were just about to have deserts when a whole crowd of people came up to Bart and wanted to wish him luck or give comment on tomorrow's trial.

Finally, the two of them went home, snuggled on the couch to a rented movie and fell fast asleep.

* * *

"Homer! Hurry, the trial's going to begin in twenty minutes!" Marge yelled from the doorway, holding a sleeping Brianna.

Homer came down the stairs hopping as he was trying to pull his pants up.

"Stupid, cheap, fits-all-sizes belt! Grrr…Err…mmph. Breaking on me when I bend over!" He grunted as he tugged and pulled.

To their luck, there was still a parking space available at the bowling alley. Getting out they met Maggie and Alex who had came on Maggie's Harley.

"Hurry you guys! It's going to start any minute!" Said Maggie rushing everyone in.

Once in, they all went through the rows to try to find four spaces for themselves but only found two in far areas.

Just as they got themselves settled, the bailiff stood and addressed everyone in the bowling alley.

"All rise for the honorable Judge Snyder!"

"You may be seated." Said the judge. "What's on for today?"

"Docket number 682920, case of Charles Montgomery Burns vs. Lisa Simpson, Mona Simpson, Milhouse Van Houten, and Samantha Van Houten charges are Grand Larceny in the first degree and Aiding and Abetting in the first degree."

The Judge nodded, "How do the accused plea?"

Bart stood up, "Your honor, my clients plea not guilty."

"Very well, you may begin your opening statements."

Mr. Gweeble was the first to come forward.

"Your Honor, ladies and gentlemen of the jury, my client, Mr. Burns thanks you all for being here. He knows that all of you are very smart and educated people who know what is wrong and what is right. For instance, you know who is guilty and who is innocent. These people accused today are guilty not innocent. They broke into Mr. Burns' home, stole something that rightfully belonged to him and are saying NOW that it didn't. Do what's right for Mr. Burns, help him get his treasure back."

Mr. Gweeble took a moment to straighten his tie and then he sat down.

Bart did likewise as he stood up. Walking over to the jury box, which was a bunch of folded chairs with pizza boxes surrounding them, he coughed.

"That was the biggest crap ever told, am I right?"

This got a huge gasp and murmur from the entire bowling alley.

Judge Snyder banged his gavel, "Mr. Simpson, if you don't watch your language, I'll hold you in contempt."

"Sorry your Honor. Anyways, Mr. Burns is right on one thing, which will be presented before you. That gun was stolen. But by Mr. Burns first. My clients stole it to be brought back to its rightful owner, a Mr. Rainer Wolfcastle. He'll tell you today that the gun is his and his ALONE. Do the right thing and back the right horse."

To Bart's amazement, the following next day, Gweeble's first and second witness had gone MIA and Burns wasn't upsetted by it.

"Call your witness, Mr. Gweeble." Said the Judge.

"Your Honor, we call to the stand, Frankie." Said Mr. Gweeble.

The doors to the bowling alley opened and in came Smithers with a Doberman on a leash.

"Objection!" Bart said aloud.

The judge thought for a moment, "Both of you come to the table."

While Bart and Gweeble were arguing, Lisa whispered to Grandma Simpson.

"_A dog? Are they serious?"_

"_Mr. Burns trains his dogs for EVERYTHING. Even identifying the people they've attacked." _Said Grandma Simpson.

Lisa was worried by this.

"But how the hell am I going to ask the dogs questions, your Honor?" Bart asked, after learning that a dog CAN be admissible as a witness.

The Judge turned to Mr. Gweeble, "Well, Mr. Gweeble?"

"He understands English very well, your Honor. As long as Mr. Simpson uses yes or no questions, he should be able to answer them."

Bart threw his hands up in the air, "Fine."

The dog then sat down next to the judge.

Mr. Gweeble approached him.

"Frankie, do you see the guy you attacked several weeks ago?"

The dog nodded.

"Will you point him out?" Gweeble asked.

The dog nodded and walked over to Bart's table and leaped onto it and growled at Milhouse.

"Objection! Your Honor, the dog is harassing my client!" Bart yelled.

"Mr. Gweeble, get a hold on your "witness"."

"Frankie, down!" said Smithers as he ran up and pulled on the dog's collar till it was back next to the judge.

"Your witness." Said Gweeble.

Bart cautiously walked towards the dog but stopped a few feet from it.

"Have you seen this boy before, Frankie?"

Frankie looked away and then nodded.

"Frankie, are you afraid of your owners?"

Frankie nodded.

"Would you do anything to please them?"

Again Frankie nodded.

"Are you lying right now, Frankie?" Bart asked a put a sympathetic tone to the end of his voice.

Frankie looked away, nervously.

Lisa smiled. This had to be the first time she saw a dog perjure itself.

"Objection, your Honor! He's harassing the witness!" Shouted Gweeble.

"No more questions." Bart said and then he strutted back to his chair.

The last thing Gweeble presented to the court was the videos of Lisa, Milhouse, and Samantha. Then, the Judge announced that they'd break and would be back tomorrow for Bart to call his first witness.

* * *

Bart had spent the late evening with Alex. Even though they had spent time before the other night, Bart felt he owed it to her.

"This may be mushy of me, but, I gotta tell ya. You're my strength in all of this." Bart smiled.

Alex kissed him on the lips and then ruffled up his hair with her hand.

"You're right. It was mushy. But I liked it."

The two then went to the bedroom and closed the door.

Meanwhile at the Simpson's house, Marge and Homer were watching TV together just as Kent Brockman came on.

"_**This is Kent Brockman with your Trial Watch 2024 polls. In the matter of the case of C. Montgomery Burns vs. the Simpson women and the Van Houten's, the polls indicate that the people are in favor of Mr. Burns being the victor in this case."**_

Homer angrily shut off the set.

"What do people know!" He yelled.

Marge sadly murmured.

Homer noticed.

"Marge, honey, what's wrong?"

"Do you think we'll win this?"

Homer put his hand on his wife's, brushing it soothingly.

"Of course will win. Why not?"

Marge sighed, "I don't know. Something tells me that tomorrow will happen that might prone those "polls people" right."

Homer shook his head, "People are idiots, honey. You'll see."

Homer then kissed her and led the both of them up to the bedroom.

Across town, Maggie was visiting Lisa and the others in the jail, cradling a goo-gooing little Brianna Van Houten as her parents were fast asleep.

Lisa was softly playing her saxophone, which the guards let her use.

"I think she likes it, Lise." Said Maggie as she smiled at he tiny figure staring in wonder at the brass instrument.

Lisa put it away and sat hunched with her hand hugging her knees to her body, rocking back and forth.

"I was worried with that dog they brought out. I'm glad Bart was able to turn the tables on Burns with that one."

Maggie nodded. "He'll kill them tomorrow with his witnesses and soon the four of you will be back home in no time."

Lisa smiled, "Yeah, I'm pretty sure there's nothing they can do to shake up Bart. I thing you were to young to remember but, he once said, that, "Burns would have to use fifteen people to bring down Bartholomew J. Simpson"."

Maggie laughed, "I don't remember that but it does sound like him."

"Yeah, tomorrow will be good. At least, I hope so." Lisa said and then turned to look out the barred windows at the star lit sky.

* * *

This time it was a little bit easier to find a place to have all four of them sit together, but it was at the very back of the row.

Again, everyone in Springfield had arrived to see this trial and now it was Bart's turn.

"Mr. Simpson you may call your first witness." Said Judge Snyder.

"Your Honor, I'd like to call to the stand, Mrs. Samantha Van Houten."

Samantha swallowed as she walked up and took her seat at the bench.

The bailiff approached with his bible.

"Mrs. Van Houten, do you swear to tell the truth and nothing but the truth, so help you God?"

Samantha nodded, "Yes I do."

"Mrs. Van Houten, do you recognize this?" Bart asked as he held up the golden gun marked as exhibit A.

Samantha nodded, "I do. That was the item that Lisa had us go get so it could be returned to Mr. Wolfcastle."

"Was that her only plan?" Bart asked.

Samantha shook her head, "No, it wasn't. It was a deal she had made with Greta Wolfcastle, Rainer's daughter. The deal was that in exchange for the gun she would get the deed for the Jazz Hole, which was Lisa's dream place. She only agreed to do this because it would be helping out not only herself but for Mr. Wolfcastle, also."

Bart smiled, "Thank you. That'll be all."

Bart walked back to his table and winked at Lisa.

Mr. Gweeble got up and strode right over to Samantha.

"Isn't it true, Mrs. Van Houten that all of this was to help Lisa Simpson get back at Mr. Burns for his contempt of the environment that she fought against him in the past?"

Samantha shook her head, "No sir."

"Because everything else I've heard you say is too hard to believe."

"Well, it's the truth, Mr. Gweeble. We did this to help out a poor man who needed his dignity and to help Lisa to get the place of her dreams. There was nothing selfish about this."

Gweeble grinned so maliciously it sickened Bart's stomach.

"So you say. I can't even imagine what your daughter's going to think of you once she finds out that you helped steal from an old, helpless, man. She'll probably think of you as a poor and petty person, don'tcha think, Mrs. Van Houten?"

"How dare you! I would do anything for my family and friends. I want to show my daughter that there are still people in this day that will fight for every person who isn't strong enough to fight him or herself. To fight against those who have money and deem themselves untouchable. That's why I did this." Tears filled in the corners of Samantha's eyes.

"I have no more questions for Mrs. Van Houten, your Honor." Gweeble said sitting back down.

Samantha held her tears back as she walked back to Bart's table where Bart patted her one the back, telling her, "You did great."

The Judge looked to Bart.

"Mr. Simpson you may call your next witness."

Bart stood up, "Your Honor, for my next witness, I'd like to call, Mr. Rainer Wolfcastle."

A loud gasp came through the bowling alley as a man pushing a wheelchair brought in Mr. Wolfcastle.

After having been sworn in, Mr. Wolfcastle seemed to relax and put all his attention to Bart.

"Mr. Wolfcastle, do you recognize this gun?" Bart asked as he held up the item.

Rainer nodded, "Jah, that's da gun that the rifle people gave me for my contributions to the NRA's accidental widow program."

"When was the last time you saw this?" Bart asked.

"In Los Angeles, just before I got on my plane back to Springfield."

Bart nodded, "Was it there when you got off the plane?"

Rainer shook his head, "Nah, it was stolen."

"Who stole it?"

Rainer pointed a finger at Mr. burns, "Da old evil man, took it. I tried to get it back from him, but he threw da schnauzers at me."

Bart nodded and turned to Gweeble; "You're witness."

Mr. Gweeble gave a grin, "No questions for this witness, your Honor." He then clicked open his briefcase causing Rainer to go bug-eyed, clutch at his chest and then go diving for Gweeble's briefcase, yelling, "Get back! It's a bomb filled with Hydro Gas!"

The Judge banged his gavel; "Orderlies escort Mr. Wolfcastle out of the court!"

Lisa looked nervously at Bart as the orderlies escorted the ranting Rainer

Wolfcastle out of the courtroom

For awhile the commotion that it had caused looked as though it wouldn't stop. It was only until several bangs later that Judge Snyder got the bowling alley under control.

"Mr. Simpson, call your next witness."

Bart stood, "Your Honor, we call, Mr. Rod Flanders."

Lisa looked at Bart with surprise.

She wasn't the only one. Rod came into the bowling alley not looking at all that sure he should really be there.

Bart got up and walked up to Rod and pointed to Mr. Burns.

"Rod, do you recognize this an sitting over here?"

Rod nodded, "That was the man that scared me and my brother."

Bart smiled.

"Rod, could you tell us what transpired that day?"

Rod took a deep breath, "It was a hot Saturday, me and my brother were out ringing door bells when we heard the loud, boisterous, evil, old man; holding up that scary gun and waiving it around. He was saying over and over, "I got it! It's mine!" Todd and I panicked and ran, afraid the scary man was going to shoot us."

Bart nodded, "Thank you, Rod." Bart then went and took his seat.

"Your witness, Mr. Gweeble." Said the judge.

Mr. Gweeble nodded and straightened his tie as he grinned at the nervous Rod.

"So you're saying that you saw Mr. Burns gloat on and on about stealing that gun, right outside his one mansion in view of the entire public, is that correct?" Mr. Gweeble said as he slowly oozed his way to Rod.

Rod clutched his golden cross necklace, "That's what I remember, sir."

Gweeble came close to Rod's face, "Tell me, Mr. Flanders, isn't it rue that you were nowhere near the mansion when this so called time occurred?"

Rod Flanders shifted nervously in his seat. "I-I guess not."

Gweeble grinned big, "I have no other questions for this "witness", your Honor."

Bart stared in horror at Rod. Rod had told him that, that event, really happened!

Judge Snyder turned to Bart, "Mr. Simpson, do you have any other witnesses?"

Bart sighed, "No your honor."

"Then I hereby call today adjourned so the jury may now start their deliberation." He then banged his gavel against the coffee table.

Bart watch as the bailiffs escorted the four out, all looking sad.

Bart bit his lower lip as he got up and headed out the bowling alley doors.

Meanwhile, Maggie leaned over to Alex.

"Wow, poor Bart. Do you think he'll be okay?"

Alex sighed, sadly.

"I don't know."

Bart stood outside of the bowling alley looking out at Springfield. The mid-afternoon's light casting their brightness all over town.

To someone else, this kind of image would have them snap out of their anger and frustration.

Not Bart.

Bart closed his eyes, turned to the side of the building, and started going berserk.

Punching and kicking, which then turned to clawing and kneeing; Bart grunted furiously as he attacked the structure.

Alex, having come out to look for Bart, quickly tried to pry him away from his imaginary foe.

"Bart! What are you doing? Stop it!" She yelled as she tried her best to pull him away.

"STUPID, DAMN, OLD, WITHERD, WRETCHED, MONSTER!!!" Bart yelled at the top of his lungs as he soon lost his energy and then put a hand against the building to support himself.

Alex took him aside and led him to the steps and sat him down.

"I-I've-failed them, Alex. Lisa, Milhouse, Samantha, Grandma; I've failed them."

Alex shook her head and hushed him, gently. "No you haven't. What are you talking about?"

Bart shook his head; "I went in there still unprepared. Gweeble was ready to eat me alive."

Alex didn't respond. She only held Bart's head in her lap and stroked his hair.

Alex sat down next to him. "No reason to get all psycho over this, Bart. The important thing is, is that you were there to help them. I don't think any other lawyer in Springfield would have the guts to stand up to Mr. Burns as you did."

Bart shrugged, "Well, I'm still not sure how well I did."

Alex nodded, "We'll see about that tomorrow. What are you going to do now?"

Bart sighed and got up from the steps, "I'm going to head on over to the cells and see how they're doing. Want to come along?"

Alex shook her head, "I can't. I promised your Mom that I'd help her with cleaning the Van Houten's home."

Bart nodded.

Alex kissed him, "Tell them I hope they're okay, alright?"

Bart nodded, "I will."

Bart then left Alex and walked downtown to the county's jail.

He really wasn't in the mood to chitchat with Chief Lou so he tried his best to avoid his office and walked over to the sign-in next to the prison cells.

Bart took a deep breath before entering the small, confined, prison cell.

Walking inside, he saw that Lisa, Milhouse, Samantha, and Grandma Simpson, were the only ones occupying the cramped cell.

Grandma S. was the only one sleeping, while Lisa was reading a New Republic magazine, and the Van Houten's were quietly talking to eachother.

As Bart came in, Milhouse seemed to notice hi and he broke off his conversation with Samantha and walked up to the cell's bars.

"Hey, Bart." He said.

"Hey, Milhouse, hey, Samantha." Bart replied.

Milhouse scratched the back of his neck, "Wicked trial, huh?"

Bart nodded.

Lisa joined the three. "Mr. Burns had you going hard, huh?"

Again, Bart nodded.

All four turned to the direction Bart had came as they heard the door open.

Maggie came in holding little Brianna whose eyes seem to light up as she saw her parents.

The guard took her and brought her to her eager and awaiting parents.

Bart watched Samantha and Milhouse cradling their daughter and sighed.

"I hope I haven't screwed up their lives more than I already have."

Lisa shook her head, "Bart, don't do this to yourself. They know how fierce Mr. Burns and his lawyers can be. There was no way you could have known Rod was going to lie to you. We still have faith in you, Bart. Trust me, we wouldn't have anyone else stand beside and fight for us than you."

Bart shrugged, "I hope I have done them some, if any, justice. As I hope I helped you out some, Lise."

Lisa took her brother's hand through the cell bars and squeezed it gently.

"Bart, I want you to know. No matter what happens tomorrow, I've never been prouder to call myself Bart Simpson's sister."

Bart reached through the bars and hugged his sister.

* * *

The entire courtroom packed and every seat was virtually filled as every person in Springfield sat in.

To the surprise of no one, except Lisa, there were hotdog vendors and drink peddlers making sales as they went through the various rows.

When Judge Snyder entered, everyone stopped his or her talking.

Marge was trying her best to cal down little Brianna Van Houten as the Judge took his seat.

"In the matter of Charles Montgomery Burns vs. Lisa Simpson, Milhouse Van Houten, Samantha Van Houten, and Mona Simpson; how do you find?" The Judge asked.

The air seemed to stand still as everyone within the bowling alley held his or her breaths.

Skinner rose, "Your honor, we the jury, find the four innocent of all charges."

The entire court erupted with gasps and various discussions.

Lisa gave Bart a huge hug and Grandma Simpson kissed Bart on the forehead.

Milhouse shook hands with Bart and then scooped up Samantha and took her out to meet Brianna.

Bart turned back to see Alex, grinning big at his victory.

Mr. Burns, being escorted by Smithers, walked like a creeping shadow to Bart's table.

Bart heard Smithers cough and he turned around to meet Mr. Burns' piercing glare.

"Enjoy your minor victory while you can, Simpson. You'll need all your strength before the final blow."

Bart's mouth formed into a cocky grin. He leaned forward on his desk and looked Mr. Burns directly in the eyes.

"Whatever you have, bring it on."

_**To be continued…**_

_**SsSsSsSsSsSsSsSsSsSsSsSsSsSsSs**_

**A/N**: Next one is the last. It's been a great journey, I'll tell ya. I hope to see you guys during my other stories.

**A/N II**: The reason why I didn't incorporate any of Grandma Simpson's past afflictions on Mr. Burns in this story was because in the last Simpson's episode she was believed to be dead util, at the very end, they revealed her not to be. Therefore, it would be double jeopardy for her to be charged with those crimes again and I saw no reason to bring it up.

**A/N III**: What will Mr. Burns do next? Find out next on the final installment of Bart Simpson: Attorney at Law.

_**Q-n-P**_


	20. Hell's smells and Wedding bells

**Chapter twenty: Hell's smells and Wedding bells**

Two days after the monumentous trial, everything seemed to calm down, at least for a little while.

Lisa gave the golden gun to Rainer and Greta gave the deed to the Jazz Hole to Lisa as per their agreement.

Lisa had promised Greta that she would include what Greta had in mind for her father's memory with her plans of restoring the Jazz Hole to its beatnik purity.

How she was going to do that, Greta had no idea.

So far, within the week, Mr. Burns' warning to Bart hadn't been made good and Homer told everyone that they shouldn't worry about it so much.

"The old skeleton was probably just blowing off some steam for losing that case. There's nothing to worry about."

In very few cases has Homer ever been right about a grim situation, but not in this case.

Mr. Burns, having lost the case against the Simpson women and the Van Houten family, made it his personal vendetta to put the entire Simpson family into utter misery.

He started by bribing the Cable Company to cut the Simpson's cable. At Moe's he hired a man to prevent Homer from ever getting a beer and to also follow him around town to make sure he never got a single drop from anyone or anywhere.

With Marge, he bought out the Korean company that made the certain ingredient found in her hair spray that caused her hair to be erect twenty-four/seven.

Unfortunately, with Maggie, there wasn't anything he could do. At first he tried to blackmail her employers into firing her but found they were not as easily persuaded as others. They were fiercely loyal to Maggie. Mr. Burns then tried to hire somebody to cause an "accident" which would prevent Maggie from ever having to dance again. The person he had hired from the job tried once but came back with both of his arms broken by Maggie's new boyfriend, Nigel Thorburn.

For some reason, his attacks have never gotten to Bart or Lisa. Nor Alex, which surprised Bart since their relationship was anything but private.

That is until the following Thursday…

Getting ready for Springfield's annual "Picnic-a-thon", where all the families in the area come to have a picnic at the Jeremiah's Day Park, Homer and Bart were getting the car ready, as they always did while the girls got the food ready.

Making sandwiches in the kitchen, Alex was happy to be included in this even though she wasn't a Simpson yet.

"Alex, you were a Simpson when you first came into our lives." Marge said smiling.

"Yeah, and now that you're on more than better terms with Bart, you're one now more than ever." Said Lisa elbowing her, playfully.

Maggie, on the other hand, hated this day.

"I'll say this for the last time, I'm not going!" She said resting her hands on her hips.

"Margaret Celine Simpson, you're going to go with us. End of discussion." Marge said, sternly.

Lisa leaned over to whisper into Alex's ear, "_She does this every year and Mom always puts her foot down everytime._"

Alex grinned as Maggie bitterly admitted defeat to her mother.

After the food was made the Simpson family and Alex got into the car and headed to the park where numerous families had already arrived and were setting up.

The Wiggum family was having a food fight with the Van Houten's, Barney was getting plastered at the tent Moe had set up which had all of his regulars there, and Selma and Sideshow Mel basking in the shade.

"Wow, this has to be the biggest turn out yet." Marge said in amazement.

"Certainly is." Lisa agreed.

After the family had set up and had drinks out, Lisa decided now would be the best time to announce that tonight would be the unveiling of the new Jazz Hole.

"Wow, sis. I know you promised Greta that you'd include all of McBain's thing's into it, how are you going to do that?" Bart asked.

"Oh, just you wait and see. I think you're all going to like it." Lisa said, smiling.

Homer then decided to, drunkenly, make a toast to both Alex and Lisa's new business. Thus commemorating the family's usual day at the "Picnic-a-thon".

Later that evening, Lisa had told the family to meet her at the Jazz Hole for the unveiling.

Pulling up to the parking lot, there was a white curtain covering the building with a rope that held down at the side where Lisa and Greta were situated.

Everyone had come dressed in his or her finest, including Rainer who was there with an orderly, who was also dressed for the occasion.

As soon as everyone was there, Lisa walked up to the podium and cleared her throat.

"Good evening, everyone. Welcome to the first opening of the combined works of the Jazz Hole and the McBain museum. Before we begin, I'd like to thank both of the Wolfcastle's for allowing me to keep the jazz scene alive in Springfield. Greta, Rainer, thank you both."

Both gave Lisa a smile.

"Now," Lisa continued, "Without further ado, Mr. Wolfcastle, will you do the honors?"

Mr. Wolfcastle's orderly wheeled him to the rope and with a hearty tug, the sheet came down to reveal in big words: "McBain! At the Jazz Hole".

Everyone gasped in awe at the sign, which was presented in the fashion of the lettering as in most of McBain's old movie posters.

Rainer Wolfcastle wiped a tear from his eye.

Greta hugged Lisa and whispered, "Thank you".

Moments later upon going in, the whole crowd were brought into the same gloomy atmosphere that the Jazz Hole presented with some exceptions.

The walls were covered with either stills from scenes in the McBain movies or statuettes of McBain doing various poses. On the upper level, was a room filled with ever kind of McBain paraphernalia known to mankind, plus a screening room where there was a rare showing of Rainer's old interview with Siskel and Ebert about doing his role for the first time.

Rainer seemed to tear up some more, once he was watching the interview, he looked up to Greta.

"I want to be buried here." He said, smiling.

Greta looked to Lisa and hugged her again.

Lisa then performed for the crowd her rendition of "The Broken-neck blues", which gained a loud applause.

Bart, to the surprise of the whole family, asked if he could perform something on stage.

"Excuse me? Did I hear you right?" Lisa asked, amused.

Bart grinned, "There are something's I never told you about, when I was in college."

Lisa sighed, "All right, if you must. Keep in mind though, that Alex, Maggie, and I are going to make sure you never forget this."

Bart smiled, "I'm not worried." He then picked up a guitar and headed on stage and sat on a stool.

Everyone seemed stunned that Bart Simpson was on stage and was actually going to be performing.

Bart adjusted the cords and then removed the pick.

"This is for my sister on her best day ever." He said into the Mic and then he started playing "Classical Gass", which astounded everyone including Lisa who was smiling at her brother for making such a sweet contribution.

As Bart finished up, there was a commotion at the front door.

"Let me through, you dunderwhat, I don't care if I don't have an invitation to you're groovester-palace." Said a voice.

Everyone cleared out of the way as Mr. Burns, being escorted by Smithers, made his way to the front of the stage.

"That was the most awful strumming since Jimmy Hendrix!" Mr. Burns ranted, looking up at Bart.

Everyone in the crowd glared at Mr. Burns and started booing.

Mr. Burns didn't seem to care for their bitterness to him.

"Simpson, you and I need to have a little chat."

Bart sighed; setting down the guitar he came off the stage and then sat down at one of the tables in the far corner.

"What is it, Mr. Burns?" He asked once he sat down.

"I've tried to be reasonable with you, Simpson." Mr. Burns began.

Bart interrupted him, "Reasonable? Yeah right. Since that trial you've done nothing but attack my family. Give me one good reason I should even be listening to you right now?"

Mr. Burns smiled, "You and your fiancée's future depends on it."

Bart scowled at him, "Don't you dare bring Alex into this."

Mr. Burns seemed to smile all the more, "Why shouldn't I? I've seemed to have struck a nerve, Simpson, don't tell me you're now getting weak?"

Bart clenched his teeth and lowered his eyes, "You're the only thing weak here, Mr. Burns. I have my youth and all you have is money. Without your money, you're nothing."

Mr. Burns' smile disappeared. "Perhaps. But other than money, what I also have is influence."

Alex and Lisa watched from far away Bart and Mr. Burns talking, although to Alex it looked as though Bart was yelling rather than talking.

"What are they talking about?' Alex asked Lisa.

Lisa shrugged, "I'm not sure. But, judging by Bart's expressions, its nothing good."

They then saw Bart fling the table across the room and shout.

"IF YOU DO THAT TO ALEX, I'LL KILL YOU, YOU OLD BASTARD!!!"

Alex looked in alarm at the fact her name was mentioned.

To the surprise of everyone, Rainer got up out of his wheel chair and walked over to Mr. Burns, hoisted him by the collar, out of his seat, and took him to the entrance.

"Get out." He said firmly, he then flung Mr. Burns out of the place.

Smithers followed out with him.

Alex went over to Bart who was shaking with Anger and taking steady sips of water trying to get his temper down.

"Bart? Are you okay?" She asked, putting a hand on his shoulder.

Bart sighed, "I hate that man.'

Alex nodded, "We all do, honey. What did he say that made you act like that?'

Bart looked up at her with sad eyes, he then turned away. "Nothing."

The rest of the evening went on great, and as everybody left, each person congratulated to Lisa on, what should be, a successful business.

Many promised that they'd come back here to enjoy their evenings.

Milhouse and Samantha, accompanied by a sleeping Brianna, told Lisa how proud they were and that they would come by tomorrow to be one of the first couples to be here.

Nelson also came by and Lisa was surprised.

"Nelson? What are you doing here? Have you been here the entire time?"

Nelson rubbed the back of his head, nervously.

"Uh, yeah."

"Well, why didn't you come up to talk to me?" Lisa asked.

Nelson coughed, "Well, it's kinda your night, and, uh, I didn't want to butt in."

Lisa smiled, Nelson was always modest.

"Anyways, uh, do you wanna come back to my place for dinner?" Nelson asked.

Lisa kissed him, "I'd love to."

* * *

Back at their apartment, Alex grabbed Bart's hand as he made his way to the bedroom.

"I'd really wish you'd tell me what Burns said to you."

Bart sighed, "I guess, if you really want to know. Burns said that he was going to go to the media with fake news about your business if I didn't do exactly what he asked."

Alex shook her head, "What a bastard. But Bart, why didn't you tell me when we were there?"

Bart shrugged, "I guess I was so angry I decided not to."

Alex kissed him, "You shouldn't worry about telling me these things. They're ones that I DO need to know. You shouldn't be holding the weight of the world on your shoulders, Bart. People are there to help you."

Bart smiled, "I know. Sometimes, I guess, I feel that I can do these things alone and I'll be okay. But, now I'm happier that I have someone holding my back."

Alex grinned, "Don'tcha know it."

The two shared an intimate kiss until the phone rang.

Bart answered it, "Hello?"

Alex watched Bart slam the phone down on the receiver.

"Who was it?" She asked in alarm, seeing Bart covert back to his anger.

"Burns." Bart said, angrily.

"What does he want?" Alex asked.

Bart rubbed eyes, "I don't know. But I'm going to stop this once and for all."

Alex grabbed Bart's hand, "Bart, listen to me. You don't have to do this. Maybe he'll decide to let it go."

Bart took his hand away, "Let it go? Are you listening to yourself, Alex? Burns has been harassing us ever since he lost to me at that trial. He's not going to let this end. But I am!"

Bart then grabbed his keys and rushed out the door.

* * *

Lisa was half way asleep when she heard the phone ringing.

"Uh, Hello?" Lisa answered, dazily.

"Lisa, its Maggie. Say, have you heard from either Alex or Bart?"

Lisa fumbled around with her hand in search of the lamp on her nightstand, turning it on she sat herself upright.

"No, not lately, why?"

"After the commotion at your grand opening, I'm starting to worry about them. Mr. Burns seemed to be pretty brutal."

Lisa nodded, "Yeah, yeah he did."

"Anyways, if you hear from either of them tell them to call me okay?" Maggie asked.

Lisa smiled, "I'll be sure to do that."

"So tell, me. What's it like sleeping in Nelson's apartment?"

Lisa laughed, 'Well, it's a hellova lot better than his house was when I saw it seventeen years ago."

Maggie, in turn, laughed also. "I remember it. Did he ever play his rendition of "Joy to the world" to you?"

Lisa smiled, she remembered the events leading up to her first date with Nelson and how she was so horrified at first by the appearance of his room and then his interests.

"Yes he did. I hope he never pulls that off nowadays, I'd be mortified."

Maggie seemed to make an acknowledging sound on the other end.

"So," Lisa said, smiling, "You and Nigel, huh?'

"Yeah, it's so weird talking to you about this without having to put in "I'm thinking of using something blunt to kill him with"." Maggie laughed.

Lisa knew that other than Gerald, Maggie had no other dating experience.

* * *

Alex's pleading still fresh in his mind didn't make this drive any easier. But Bart knew he had to make things right, otherwise they were never going to get a moment's peace.

All the more closer he was getting to Burns' mansion, Bart could feel the hairs on the back of his neck rising. That wasn't the only thing, it was an odd mixture of both anger and fear.

Bart knew he had to deal with this now before it got completely out of hand.

Threatening him was one thing, but threatening his girlfriend was another, and Bart could not take it.

After having parked, Bart walked into Burns' mansion and found the man sitting by the fireplace with a glass of wine in his hand.

"Ah, Simpson. So glad you came, won't you take a seat?"

Bart folded his arms, "I came here in hopes that you'll leave Alex and my family alone, Burns. I need you to say that and then I'm gone."

Mr. Burns did his best to look surprise, "My my, down to business already, are we? Don't be so hasty, you and I have a lot to discuss."

This time, Bart was surprised, "What else is there to discuss?"

Burns smiled, wickedly, as he set down his goblet and handed Bart a manila folder containing pictures of Alex's building.

"This," Mr. Burns began as he put his fingers together, "Is what we're going to talk about, Simpson.'

Bart looked from the picture to Mr. Burns, scowling. "What about her business?"

"Actually, it's going to be MY business. After you talk to your girlfriend about how there are legal matters that she needs to be aware of and she should pull out of it immediately. You see Simpson, I've earned it."

Bart's look became icier as did his voice. "YOU may think everyone owes you something. Society played out a rotten hand by naming you the villain of the century. Well, tough luck, Mr. Burns. No one will cower before you and neither will I!" Bart then flung the folder into the fireplace.

Mr. Burns frowned, "Be that as it may, YOU owe me, Simpson. You were on death's door before I let you bequeath some of my life to get back. You are going to talk your girlfriend out of starting that establishment and you are going to do it now."

Bart gritted his teeth in anger.

"I'll never do such a thing. I love Alex more than anything to do that."

Mr. Burns stepped away from Bart.

"Hmm. If that is what you wish, so be it."

Mr. Burns brought out of his concealed shoulder holster, an old Smith and Wesson with an ivory handle. He pointed it at Bart.

"So, what? Are you going to kill me, instead? What's the point in that, Burnsy?" Bart said, taking a step back and accidentally backing into a coffee table.

"I think it's time to retrieve that precious blood of mine that I've let you borrow, Simpson." Mr. Burns then fired the gun at Bart.

The bullet missed Bart and instead hit the oil lamp behind him.

Breaking the glass containing the oil and hitting the metal surface of the table caused the oil to be ignited, sending the table and the rug on fire.

The first thing on Bart's mind was to try and extinguish the fire, but Mr. Burns was still trying to shot at him.

"Are you insane! We need to put this out!" Bart yelled.

Mr. Burns scowled at him. "The only thing I need to "put out" is your life, Simpson!"

Again, firing and missing, Bart tried his best to avoid the careless shots as he made his way to the kitchen only to find it engulfed with flames. Soon the entire mansion was burning.

Bart turned around to find Mr. Burns on the floor struggling to breathe.

"Damn this confounded old, paper-lined, corner house." Mr. Burns said, coughing.

Bart ran to him and put Mr. Burns' arm around his neck as he desperately tried an exit inside the mansion.

Going into the next hallway, Bart stopped as he heard cracking from above and saw the ceiling crashing down on them and dived immediately out of the way.

Feeling extreme amounts of pain, Bart opened his eyes and found a large oak armchair crushing him.

Looking over, he saw Mr. Burns making rigid breathing sounds, he too being suspended by a heavy object.

Bart found the smoke in the room, not only obscures his vision, but also make his breathing hard. Feeling tired, Bart tried to fight it only to have his head fall back and his eyes look upon darkness.

The fire could be seen for a quarter of a mile, even farther than that someone may recognize that something did not feel right.

Smithers had just been out to retrieve Mr. Burns' ointment when he smelled smoke a few blocks away.

As he was getting nearer he saw what he had feared. The mansion was on fire.

Quickly pulling into the driveway he rushed inside, shouting, "Monty! Where are you!" To his horror there was no answer.

Running through the house he was soon stopped by the smoke and the heat and he paused to cough as he searched feverishly throughout for any sign of Mr. Burns only to find him lying on the floor with a beam crushing his body.

"Monty!" He yelled as he tried to muster all his strength and lift the beam off, but to no avail. He just wasn't strong enough.

Cupping the face of his beloved old friend, he tried desperately to find a pulse but couldn't find one.

"Oh, Monty." Smithers said as tears of sadness came to join those caused by the smoke and soon, Wayland Smithers found himself growing weak as the smoke-filled room started to infiltrate his lungs and he found the light growing darker by the second.

Smithers brought his body next to his deepest and most loved employer, still cradling his face in his hands, as the mansion around them grew more hot and smoky.

Smithers smiled as he closed his eyes, looking upon the only person to whom he could ever love.

* * *

Homer whistled as he came into the house and then situated himself in front of the TV, as Marge was busy cleaning dishes.

"Marge! Can you get me a cold beer?" Homer called.

Marge came into the living room, looking glum as she handed Homer his Duff.

"What's the matter, honey?" Homer asked.

Marge sighed, "I'm worried. Bart's been hasn't been answering his phone. I think he went to talk to Mr. Burns about that threat he made against Alex's store. What are we going to do if something happens to Bart, Alex told me he went to talk to Mr. burns, what will happen there?"

Homer shrugged, "Well, nothing we haven't done before. Don't worry honey, Bart's bigger now. He's not going to be bothered by some dumb threat by a creepy, bony, old man."

Marge smiled and then sat down on the couch next to Homer as he scrunched over for her to sit next to him.

Marge stood up straight when the news showed a picture of Mr. Burns' mansion, now a blaze.

"_**This is Kent Brockman with a special report. The Burns Mansion is on fire! The flames were first sighted two hours ago and there is no news whether or not anyone is inside. The Springfield Volunteer Fire Department, unfortunately, is away dealing with a campfire gone, moderately, out of control. More news on this after the break." **_

Marge made a whimper as she held her hands to her mouth in worry.

"Oh, Homer! Our little-bitty Bart is in there!" Marge said as Homer holded her close.

* * *

Alex's eyes were filled with terror as she came up to the, now, smoking mansion. Parking the car away, just in case the flames came nearer, Alex ran to the front of entryway just as the flames were growing more intense.

Putting her jacket over her head, Alex went in and found her eyes watering up instantly.

"Bart! Where are you! Bart!" Alex called as she tried to cover her eyes through the smoke filled building.

It was only when she went in further did she find Bart buried underneath a pile of burning furniture.

Pulling Bart away from the flaming debris, and into outside, Alex found herself losing her footing and falling backwards, landing into a very embarrassing position on top of Bart.

As soon as she got off, Bart seemed to awaken and coughed long and hard, getting the remaining smoke out from his lungs.

Bart looked up at her and smiled, "My hero."

"Took you long enough, Simpson." She said grinning as she tasseled up his hair.

* * *

Weeks upon weeks passed and the day came.

Set near the Springfield Gorge, at daybreak, with the setting sun's glow across the golden and crimson, white tents are pitched up along the edge of the cliff.

Everyone who knew the Simpson family was there as well as some off beat people who announced themselves as friends of Alex's from L.A. were also there.

Homer, dressed in his faux-priest outfit, straightened his white collar as he stepped out and addressed the onlookers.

"Unlike some fake celebrity weddings, this is one that will last forever. My boy and Alex have been an item for some time and according to Marge, it's the real deal. Now, if you're tired or need to chug back a few, now's the time to do it. The couple are going to read some vow's that they've made for eachother."

Alex looked down and smiled, "Bart, I came back to Springfield to look for something better. Being with you has done that and more. My future with you shall be something even more to look forward to. I'm yours and forever shall be."

Homer smiled and then turned to Bart. "How about you, boy?'

Bart smiled, "Alex, ever since you've returned to Springfield, I've marked those days as the days that have salvaged the better parts of myself and have made me a better man ever since. Being with you has made me the luckiest and richest man in the world."

Homer wiped away a tear and blew his nose on the cuff of his sleeve.

"Do you, Alex Whitney, take Bart to be your husband to have and to hold, yadda yadda…till death does screw you guys over?" Homer asked.

"I do." Alex said, smiling.

"You know I do." Bart said, grinning broadly.

"Do you have the rings?" Homer asked.

Alex grinned as Bart slid the ring on her finger and she did the same.

"If there be anyone here who objects to this union, speak now or forever hold your peace. And you better hold!" Homer shook his fist threateningly at the audience.

Everyone remained quiet and in their seats.

"I now pronounce you man and wife you may smooch the bride, son." Homer said winking.

"Thanks Homer.' Bart said, kindly.

Everyone cheered as the two-embraced eachother and shared their first passionate kiss as a married couple.

* * *

Epilogue:

_**From the journal of Maggie Simpson:**_

_**Well, journal, we've certainly come a long way, haven't we?**_

_**I guess I better start off where I've left off…**_

_**After a long a series of battles against Jessica Lovejoy, Jeremy Hawthorne, and Mr. Burns, we, the Simpson family, have finally found our moment of peace.**_

_**I have to say Bart and Alex's wedding was the highlight of it. That and the dual grand openings of Alex's "Heavenly Silhouettes" and Lisa's "McBain! At the Jazz Hole".**_

_**Speaking of Lisa, she has announced HER engagement to Nelson Muntz! Who would have thunked it, huh? **_

_**Bart and Alex will soon be coming back from their honeymoon at the Grand Canyon. (I still can't believe they didn't go somewhere exotic)**_

_**Mom and Dad celebrated their twenty-fourth wedding anniversary by going to Paris! (Courtesy of Bart and Alex). **_

_**Grandma and Grandpa Simpson have reconciled and now are sharing a deluxe suite at the retirement castle.**_

_**Last, but not least, I'm going on my tenth date with Nigel! Now that's awesome!**_

_**In other news, the courthouse is almost rebuilt and the Springfield has decided to convert Mr. Burns' old mansion into an art gallery.**_

_**I must say, I still find it surprising that he bequeathed all of his money to Bart, despite having lost that case and then his life in that explosion. (A part of me feels sadden by Smithers having gone down with him.) **_

_**Well, at least now I know where to go if I ever need a loan, he he he.**_

_**Any-hoo, That's what's been a happen-in, journal. **_

_**Until next time, see ya! **_

_**XOXOX**_

_**Maggie**_

_**The End of Bart Simpson: Attorney at Law!!!**_

_**SsSsSsSsSsSsSsSsSsSsSsSsSsSsSsSsSsSsS**_

**A/N**: Yes, the name "McBain! At the Jazz Hole" is a take off of the band called "Panic! At the Disco.

**A/N II**: I'd like to thank the following that've been with me through this journey:

_**snOzbOz**_

_**Animegal9215**_

_**Redzorin**_

_**connal**_

_**Lord Simpson**_

_**screaming dean**_

_**kiyosuki**_

_**looneytunecrazy**_

_**Lord-Scribbler**_

_**REX-king**_

_**monkey shoe**_

_**vinson**_

_**Egohan**_

_**kyuubi91**_

_**schmittiedude**_

_**MegFallow**_

_**Helpful**_

_**Dr. Betruger**_

_**jhammer89**_

_**rxsoldier**_

_**Reikson**_

_**Tiger Lily21**_

_**french fancy**_

**A/N III**: Also the 3,981 who've read but not reviewed. Thanks for reading this, guys.

Look for updates of "Bart Simpson's Doppelganger" and "Where the Lisa is", coming soon.

_**Quick-n-Popular**_


End file.
